#no one other than Remus and Roman show up

[wyzteri]

Virgil's "because I was one of them" was like the ultimate plot twist but rewatching sanders sides I realize how obvious it was lol

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you’re in the hive, the other bees assume you’re supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Chapter 5: The Most Accidental of Thefts

Wordcount: 2.4K

~~~~

The rest of Virgil’s shift is about average, which means he's tired at the end but not ready to drop dead of exhaustion, and he catches the bus home like usual. He'd charged his phone at work, so he's able to put his travel earbuds in and drown out the various noises of mass transit with the dulcet tones of MCR.

Soon enough, he's home. He drops his apron in the hamper—he'd gotten splashed with coffee, so he's gonna need to do laundry tonight—and flops into bed.

The pool noodles are still there from this morning, which makes the flop considerably less pleasant than usual. Virgil tugs them out from underneath himself and drops them on the floor, settling back again. Man, he's tired. In a bit, he'll have to get up and do something about dinner, and start that load of laundry, but for now, he's just gonna be flopped for a bit.

Virgil lies there for a few minutes.

One of the springs is poking into his back. Virgil shifts, trying to find a more comfortable position. He may not have wanted to stay for so long, but his back sure hadn't protested sleeping on a softer surface for a few nights.

The spring is persistent, and Virgil slides a hand under his back to see if he can adjust it.

It's not a spring.

Virgil sits up and looks. Lying innocently on the bed behind him is a phone. It isn't Virgil’s phone. Virgil’s phone has a black and purple case, and it's still in his pocket anyway. This phone is red and gold and sparkly. 

It's Roman's phone.

Well, fuck.

Virgil is a thief. He's a damn thief! Roman took time out of his own morning to drive him to work, and Virgil repaid him by stealing his phone! How could he!?

Virgil is going to die of shame. He really is. He's the worst houseguest ever. He didn't bother to learn their names beforehand—hell, he still only knows one name out of three even after being there for days, he showed up in an inappropriate costume that he's lucky didn't trigger Calico's arachnophobia, he stayed way longer than he was supposed to, he inconvenienced Roman and used him as a private chauffeur, and then, to top it all off, Virgil stole his phone.

How is he supposed to get Roman's phone back to him!? He can't text him, he doesn't know Roman's number and anyway Roman doesn't have his phone with which to receive a text.

He could text Remus. Remus would probably find the accidental theft hilarious. He also might just respond LOL and not help him return it nor inform Princey of its location.

Virgil’s out of ideas. He frowns at the stolen phone.

Well.

Maybe he has one more idea.

He can't text Princey, but maybe he can text Nerdbot or Calico.

Surely Princey has their numbers. Virgil can text them from his phone, and explain the situation. Mentally trying to compose the text, Virgil picks up the sparkly phone.

It's locked.

Part of Virgil wants to give up. He tried, he failed, time for bed.

He needs a number combination. Maybe Princey did the smart thing and came up with something unique, but maybe…

Virgil tries Remus's birthday, which is, after all, also Princey's birthday. The lock screen cuts him off after just four digits and says that nope, that wasn't it. Virgil tries just the year.

The phone unlocks.

“That is not a very secure passcode,” Virgil tells it. “Anyone could guess that, all they need to know is how old you are.”

Princey's phone is still open to the map app, and the route they'd taken from his house to Virgil’s apartment is still up. It had been a pretty quick trip, only a few miles.

Virgil has another idea.

Five minutes later, Virgil is on his bike, following the route in reverse. He doesn't dare touch any buttons and risk losing the starting position, so he can't ask for a route intended for bikes instead of cars, but he has the blue dot of his current location, and when he has to detour around a too-busy road with no bike lane or sidewalks, he's able to navigate back to the route without undue difficulty.

Soon, Virgil is pedaling up the driveway. He parks his bike in front of the porch, takes a steadying breath, and knocks on the door.

Nerdbot answers the door. “Virgil, hi,” he greets, looking mildly surprised to see him. Which, fair, they just got rid of him this morning.

“Hi,” Virgil says, trying to look past him without being obvious and rude about it. “Uh, is Roman home?”

Nerdbot raises an eyebrow at him, but nods and gestures for Virgil to step into the foyer. “Roman?” he calls into the rest of the house.

“Whaat?” Roman calls back from another room. He pops round the doorframe, and Nerdbot gestures to Virgil. “Scaramour!” Roman says, sounding genuinely pleased to see him. “What brings you here?”

“My bike,” Virgil quips. He holds up the accidentally stolen phone, and Roman lights up.

“You found it!” he cries, bounding over and snatching his phone out of Virgil’s hand. “Oh, I have been looking for this, where was it?”

“At my place,” Virgil admits.

“Huh,” says Princey, and, “Oops.”

Virgil’s about to apologize for accidentally stealing Roman's phone, when thunder rolls and the sky, which had gotten increasingly cloudy on the way over, opens up.

Roman shoves his phone back at Virgil, who only doesn't drop it due to luck and reflexes, and dashes out into the sudden rain. Before Virgil can process what's happening, Roman grabs Virgil’s bicycle and hauls it bodily up the porch steps and through the front door.

“...What,” Virgil says.

“You are my dark and stormy knight on shining bicycle,” Princey proclaims. “You have done me a great service by locating and returning my phone, and it would be dishonorable to send you home in such weather. Nor shall I allow your noble steed to rust!” He slicks his dampened hair back from his face. “I must insist that you grace us with your company until the storm passes.”

Virgil looks to Nerdbot for help. Nerdbot looks out the door at the rain. “I agree, this certainly isn't biking weather,” he says. “Have you had dinner?”

“Um,” says Virgil, feeling quite off-balance. “No?”

Nerdbot nods decisively and closes the door. “We were just sitting down to eat. I insist you join us.” He ushers Virgil into the dining room and says to Calico, “Please set another place, Patton. We have a guest.”

“Oh!” Calico—Patton?—says, smiling at Virgil. “Welcome back!”

“Hi,” Virgil says, and lets Nerdbot seat him, and lets Calico put a plate in front of him.

The rain doesn't let up all through dinner. In fact, it's pouring harder at the end of the meal than it had been at the start.

Nerdbot pulls up a weather forecast and frowns. “It looks like we're going to continue having heavy rain all night,” he says. “We currently have a flash flood warning until five in the morning tomorrow. ‘Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing a flooded area.’” He looks up at Virgil. “I'm sorry for the abrupt change in plans, but it looks like you're going to have to stay the night again.”

“Oh,” Virgil says. “Sorry.” He'd just meant to return the phone and apologize, but because of the rain they had to feed him again and now they have to put up with him for a whole nother night!

“It's no imposition,” Nerdbot reassures. “I'll prepare a guest room for you, and Patton can find you a spare set of pajamas.”

“Thanks,” says Virgil weakly. They're much better hosts than he deserves. He could have just slept on the couch again.

Nerdbot smiles at him. “You are welcome,” he says. “Roman, will you clear the table?”

Roman pouts, and Virgil offers, “I'll help.” It's the least he can do.

“Do you have work in the morning?” Roman asks while he puts away the leftovers and Virgil does the dishes.

“Yeah.”

“I'll drive you. Do you wanna stop by your place again, or wash your clothes here so you can wear them tomorrow?”

Fuck. Virgil winces. “I was going to do laundry tonight,” he remembers aloud. “My uniform is dirty, so I was going to wash it!”

“Oh no!” Roman says. “Do you have a spare?”

“I… I guess there's one at work I can borrow,” Virgil says, relaxing slightly. Yeah. He can do that, and then he can do laundry tomorrow.

Calico comes back with an armful of pajamas. “I think these should fit you,” he says, handing them to Virgil. “They might be a little loose.”

“I like loose,” Virgil reassures him. He hesitates. “Is… do you think I could take a shower?” He hasn't had one in days, and honestly he's feeling pretty gross.

“Probably?” Calico says. He starts back the way he'd come. “Logan?” he calls.

There's a muffled reply, and Patton leads Virgil up the stairs. “Logan?” he calls again as they reach the top.

Nerdbot steps out of one of the several doorways lining the long upstairs hallway. “What?” he asks.

“Is it safe to take a shower?”

“It's not ideal,” Nerdbot says, “but as the thunderstorm appears to have given way to just rain, we're unlikely to have a lightning strike. Go ahead.”

Patton smiles up at Virgil. “I'll get you a towel!” He opens one of the other doors, which leads to a stuffed linen closet, and hands Virgil a fluffy blue towel. “The bathroom's at the end of the hall,” he says, pointing. “Take as long as you need, we've got a big water heater.”

“Thanks,” Virgil says, and absconds into the bathroom. He locks the door behind him and sets his pile of borrowed clothes on the floor. Then he strips and enjoys a nice hot shower.

Their water pressure is great. Virgil stays under the spray far longer than is necessary to scrub the grime from his skin. When he steps out, Virgil is squeaky clean, and the most relaxed he's been all day.

Time to see what kind of pajamas Calico picked out for him.

Long pajama pants the same style as Logan's nerdy ones, but plaid this time, both a long-sleeved and a short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of boxer briefs. Virgil debates, but eventually decides that someone else's clean underwear is better than his own dirty underwear, and puts them on. He wonders for a moment whose boxers they are, but shuts that thought down. He doesn't need to know. He doesn't want to know.

There's also a rolled pair of ankle socks, a stocking cap, and a hairband. Patton really wanted to cover all his bases, huh?

Virgil puts on the pants and the long-sleeved shirt, but leaves the rest. They are loose, but not too much more than his own pajamas.

Virgil hangs his damp towel on the open hook beside the other towels, gathers everything else up, and slips out.

Logan had said he would prepare a guest room for him. Virgil figures his best guess would be the room he'd seen Logan come out of. It is indeed a bedroom, with the bed made and the covers turned down invitingly, and there's an unopened water bottle on the nightstand.

This is probably the right room. There's not really any personal stuff in it, so it's really unlikely this is someone else's bedroom.

If it's not the right room, they can tell him later that he was wrong and fucked it up. Virgil puts his dirty clothes on the floor, then cracks open the water bottle and sits down on the bed to have a sip.

What is this mattress made of, cotton candy!? It's soft and he sinks right in. He can't feel the springs at all. Virgil puts his water back on the nightstand and lies down.

He is in heaven.

Objectively, Virgil is in heaven right now. He is lying on a cloud, and it is the most comfortable surface he has ever laid upon. He is never getting up. He's not even near ready to go to sleep yet, but he's never getting up. They'll have to pry him out of this bed with a crowbar. This might be a problem for Future Virgil, when he has to get up for work or, like, to pee, but Future Virgil can suck a dick.

Around an hour later, there's a soft knock and Patton peeks in through the open door. Seeing that Virgil is still up and on his phone, he tiptoes exaggeratedly across the floor. “Sneak, sneak, I'm not here,” he whispers. “I'm just gonna steal your clothes to wash them so they're ready for you tomorrow, okay? I'll empty the pockets first so I don't accidentally destroy anything important.”

“’Kay,” Virgil says.

Patton empties Virgil’s pockets onto the nightstand, and then bundles up the clothes. “Thievery!” he declares softly, scampering away with Virgil’s dirty laundry. Virgil’s lips twitch and he holds back a giggle. Patton pauses at the doorway and asks in a perfectly normal tone, “Do you want me to turn off the light?”

“Sure,” Virgil says. Might as well, and it'll save him the trip. Or the falling asleep with the light on, rather, since he's never leaving this bed.

Patton turns the light off. “Goodnight,” he says, silhouetted by the hall light. “Sleep well. I love you.”

It's probably just a reflex. He probably didn't mean to say that, not to Virgil. He barely knows him. He probably says it to Logan and Roman all the time, and it just slipped out. Virgil bites the reflexive ‘love you too’ back from the tip of his tongue, then thinks maybe he should have said it back anyway, make Patton feel less awkward about his own reflexive slip. But then it's been too long, and it wouldn't sound natural, and Virgil just says,

“Goodnight.”

Patton pulls the door to, and leaves Virgil alone in the dark.

He plays a game on his phone for a few more hours, and then sinks back into the wonderfully soft bed and sleeps.

~~~~

Chapter 6: Baiting the Trap

[touyubesposts]

My Sander Sides Enlightment

You know what’s always kinda bothered me? Those mean takes on the other sides. Like ‘Janus is manipulating Patton and isn’t actually trying to be friends with him,’ ‘Patton has too much moral superiority,’ ‘Roman never learns,’ So on and so forth. There is something bad to say about all the sides. No hate to anyone who's made one, you are valid and probably right in your own way. I think the only reason they bother me so much is because you can easily say the opposite. The most common phrase being ‘Nobody listens to ____’

“Nobody listens to Patton! He was trying to show the others that Virgil was good all along and only when Virgil was gone did they listen.”

“Nobody listens to Logan! He gets ignored constantly and he’s getting mad because of it.”

“Nobody listens to Roman! Every time he comes up with a solution, he gets shut down only to get blamed for not coming up with a solution.”

“Nobody listens to Virgil! He only gets listened to when he forces Thomas to hear him, and he doesn’t like doing that.”

“Nobody listens to Janus! Even when he has good ideas and arguments, they get pushed to the side because he is a dark side.”

“Nobody listens to Remus! That was the entire point of an episode. And all he wants is to be listened to, it doesn’t matter who.”

And all of these are valid points. But at some point, you have to wonder who’s not listening the most. Which is how I think the criticism posts of the characters came to be in the first place. But I don’t think any of them are to blame. Even when this new side gets revealed, it won’t be his fault either. The fault isn’t on Roman, or Logan, or Janus, or any of them.

It's on Thomas.

And of course I don’t mean ‘Writer Thomas,’ I mean ‘Character Thomas.’ Throughout the series, Thomas has always held himself high. You can’t be perfect, but you can try to be. And every time a situation comes up, he doubts himself, wondering if he’s even any good at all.

And in comes the sides, telling him that he can’t be bad and here's why. In fact, Thomas won’t let himself be bad at anything. Can’t be a bad worker, can’t be a bad actor or singer, and certainly can’t be a bad friend. Even in situations where he wouldn’t even be those things, he can’t even let himself risk it.

And so, the sides follow suit.

Logan becomes the perfect person for knowledge and learning, never letting himself be anything less than right all the time.

Roman strives to be perfect physically and materialistically, coming up with creative ideas that help Thomas move up in the world or, at the very least, make himself feel better.

Patton is the perfectly moral person. Make sure everyone is alright, help whenever and wherever you can, and always keep a smile on. Wouldn’t want anyone worrying for you, right? That wouldn’t be good.

Virgil is the perfect alarm system. Even false alarms are taken with the utmost seriousness. Just as long as no one else knows your anxious.

Janus is a deceiver. And Thomas lies often. So he needs to be the best at putting on a face and making sure nothing goes off without a hitch. Wouldn’t want people catching him in a lie. He needs to be the perfect liar.

And then there's Remus. The only one who tries not to be perfect. But that idea terrifies the others so much, Remus is left to pick up all of the imperfection slack. Maybe that's why Remus was offended when he was called ‘Scary.’

Trying to be so many perfect things all at once, you’re going to but heads with all of the different aspects of yourself. You're going to not listen. You're going to ignore. And in some cases, your perfectionism is going to make you look like the bad guy. And as someone with perfectionism, I relate a little too hard.

Thank you for reading.

[fangirltothefullest]

just curious: have you ever made a tutorial on how you draw hair? it always looks so flowy and delicate and I'm immensely jealous

I just kind of go for it and if it doesn't look right it usually needs more volume lol. XD It would take too long to like... go step by step but here's the general shapes of each side. The secret: There's a lot of S shapes going on to give volume.

We'll start with the shortest to the longest:

Short and pushed up in the front because he's trying to keep it neat. Spikier looking strands. Less flowey and with less S shapes means less volume. Many much triangle for maximum pointy.

Shorter but his bangs are down like Virgil. Covers human side of his face more because that's fun. He and Virgil have the same hair but Virgil tends to have more volume covering his face and sometimes I shorten Janus's bangs even more than what I actually did here to make him look more put together. It's either that or make the top part flatter like Logan's to be more clipped.

Completely covering the side of his face of course- I usually hide his eye a lot. Much spook, very emo. As you can tell, volume usually goes off to one side as opposed to both for the way I do hair. Something something balance in the unbalanced or whatever.

Fluffier! Lots of S shapes this time! But it doesn't carry around the whole face like Roman's does. It's a higher kind of floof making him look more bouncy and approachable.

THERE HE IS THE FLOOF PRINCE HIMSELF! So many swoopy S shapes everywhere and they carry down past his chin giving him so many curls to work with. Still the floof is catered to one side over the other (I default to the side with the bangs), but Roman's is as swopy as I can make it. Usually I have to go back and adjust the volume because it goes out to the side AND up higher because it's meant to make him look flouncy and flamboyant. A kind of "I woke up looking this good" vibe.

Aaand Remus! Opposite bangs of all the sides, I did this on purpose because the consistency in his being off-kilter compared to the others shows up immediately with the visual switch. But it means the opposite side gets the heavier floof so his ponytail (when I draw it, I don't always) gets to show up on the opposite side to balance him out. He has such long bangs in my style that it feels necessary lol.

I don't know if this helps but maybe it does? XD

Here's some like.... general bangs variations??

If I'm doing long hair I just lengthen the S shapes and usually I curl them at the bottom because I hair does that.

[lefaystrent]

One random day, Patton declares he is going on vacation. He will be leaving the mindscape for awhile, and it's up to the rest of the gang to hold down the fort while he's gone.

"You're Thomas's sense of Morality; you can't just go on vacation," Logan points out.

Patton's grin goes a little too wide, his eyes a little too intense. "Watch me."

Remus bobs his head up and down to check him out. "Since when do you do the ominous thing? I thought that was my thing. Are we playing around with each other's thingies?"

"No–thing wrong with switching things up now and then," Patton says cheerfully.

Virgil squints. "Are you Deceit in disguise?"

"I am sitting right next to you, Virgil," Janus points out. "Also, I wouldn't be caught dead in a floral print."

"Are you going to Hawaii? Without me?!" Roman demands, eyeing Patton's– well, Hawaiian shirt he's donned on rather than his usual polo.

"Now, now Roman, this is nothing personal kiddo. I'm just taking some much needed me-time. So I'll need to take this journey alone."

"Oh thank God," Janus mutters while Logan blinks rapidly, flabbergasted. Logan spits out, "We are all personified pieces of one man's personality. By the nature of our existence, you can't be alone."

"That's quitter talk," Remus butts in. He literally turns and shows them his butt for some reason, though thankfully with pants still on. "Want me to yeet you out the door, Daddy-o? See how far you can go? Or maybe load you into a ballista and send you hurtling to a beautiful bludgeoning death?"

"No thanks, bud," Patton says far too good-naturedly. "Our dear lord in Heaven gave me two perfectly good legs to walk with. I think I'll be fine."

"You're serious? Just– what, gonna walk out the door?" Virgil questions sharply. Skeptical he may be, he seems somewhat interested in seeing how far Patton will take this bit.

"Absolutely! There's a whole big wide world out there! So much to do! So much to see!"

"So what's wrong with taking the back steets," both Remus and Roman sing at the same time.

"You guys will be fine for a while without me. But just in case you miss me, I have provided each of you with your very own Patton Pal."

They each look down into their hands where a small, stuffed version of Patton materializes. It has stitched in glasses, a removable Cardigan, and its mouth is in the shape of a heart.

"What," they all respond collectively.

"If you feel lonely or need a hug, you just give your Patton Pal there a good ole squeeze! That should tide you over until I get back. Anyways, I'm gonna skeddadle now. Bye! Love you!"

And Patton walks out the front door.

Dad has left the building.

Roman ponders with pursed lips, "Sooo, did we just get abandoned?"

"Nah, I'm sure he's just gone out to pick up some milk."

"Thank you, Remus."

Virgil rises up from the couch and strides over to the door in a huff. "Alright Pat, you can come out now."

The door swings open. A brick wall is revealed where there once was not one.

"Uhhh, guys?" Virgil asks the group, stepping back. Unconsciously, he grips his Patton Pal a little tighter.

"What in the Chris Angel Mindfreak?" Remus questions and taps at the brick. His nail makes a scraping sound along the mortar. Curious, he examines his finger and licks it.

"Did he trap us in the Mindscape?" Roman asks, squeezing in between his brother to test the solidity of the wall. It is indeed a wall.

"Is this his villain origin story?"

Janus rolls his eyes at the twins. "Patton's just serious for a change, that's all. He doesn't want to be followed, and obviously he must be out hanging with Thomas. Really now, have some sense."

"You do know who you're talking to, right?" Virgil asks him waving at the twins, to which Janus gives a saucy, "Touche."

Logan sighs and begins ascending the stairs.

"What, you're just gonna leave too?" Virgil calls after him.

"I have work to do, as I'm sure the rest of you do. Patton will return once he tires of this stunt."

Logan is gone and now it's just the four of them.

"Someone's salty about being abandoned," Roman comments too loudly.

"FALSEHOOD!"

"Alllll byyyyy myseeeelffff," Remus sings off-key.

Virgil debates whether to follow Logan up or try a window next. He stares down into the beady, button eyes of his Patton Pal doll.

"Need a hug?" Janus asks him teasingly, watching him.

Virgil scoffs and shoves the plush into his hoodie pocket. It's bulky, but it fits.

Will it stay there?

Will Patton ever return?

Will the sides use this time to overcome their differences and bond as a true family?

Find out next time on "Episodes From The Mindscape"!

The screen flicks off.

[orbmanson7]

And here's the last part of the analysis of the "The Sides Need a Nice Day" video, this time, let's talk about Janus and Remus.

(If you want to read the first part about Patton and Logan, go here.

If you want to read the second part about Virgil and Roman, go here.)

Right away, we have Janus letting us know he's about to one-up Patton and Virgil's attempts at cheering another side up, for whatever reason he feels compelled to do so (because acceptance isn't a competition or anything, right?), and says he will be giving Remus a nice day.

Specifically, he says that "freaks deserve nice days too" which is a funny but wonderful sentiment, because it shows that Janus sees Remus for what he is but also doesn't want him to change anything about that. Remus deserves to be who he is and enjoy himself, as they all do, which is kind of the whole point behind this video, even though it hasn't really been obvious up to this point, probably because Janus is being far more direct about it than the others were.

To explain, if you look back at Patton and Logan's part, you'll see that Patton wasn't trying to change anything about Logan and came up with things he would enjoy doing, but he wanted to do them far too quickly for Logan's liking.

And with Virgil and Roman, the suggestions all turned out to be things Virgil thought Roman would like but he changed those things to be something they might both enjoy instead, which wasn't really giving Roman anything he expected.

But Janus knows Remus very well, recognizes the purpose behind the trend is to simply give someone something they want and let them enjoy it, and he's prepared to properly do what the others had failed at, to give another side a nice day without flaw.

Also, Janus not knowing where the pens would be is likely meant as a little hint that Janus is still very unfamiliar with the light sides' area and where they'd keep things. Not sure how he knew where to find the note cards, though...

Janus goes looking for Remus in a dark closet, expecting him to be there but is still startled when it turns out he is.

He quickly gets to the point and simply tells Remus what to do and what the result will be. No constant questions back and forth, no push for an explanation, Janus just tells Remus what to expect immediately. See how easy that is?

Remus doesn't seem too pleased before picking the card, but is delighted after he sees the result. This may imply Janus has offered to do things in the past that have not been enjoyable for Remus, but that could be a stretch. We don't know these two well enough yet to really be sure.

Janus, though with little emotion, tells Remus to 'have at it' and that he's convinced Thomas to 'lean into his intrusive thoughts' for the day. It's very likely that this means Thomas is merely thinking out these scenarios, not actually participating in them, which would still be enjoyable for Remus as someone who delves in the imagination just as much as Roman. It also would keep Thomas out of any real-life repercussions for these actions and keep down his stress and anxiety, as well.

Considering DwIT showed that just the thought alone would often put Thomas on edge, it makes sense that these actions are thoughts being leaned into and imagined rather than legitimately happening (and would also explain some of the unused options on the cards). Thomas has learned by now that thinking about something doesn't make you a bad person, and who better to convince him to have a little fun with that than Janus?

Remus excitedly grabs for the next option, instantly delighted by what it turns out to be. This really does show that Janus understands Remus rather well, he knows what Remus enjoys and doesn't have to change anything to make him happy. This comes from knowing each other, likely for a long time, and Janus not just knowing his interests but also understanding why Remus likes something.

However, on the next round of options, Janus remarks that he can't believe he's doing this. He's either in disbelief that he's doing these nice things for Remus all to show up Patton and Virgil, or he is regretting how much effort he's put into this with how easily Remus is entertained by it.

Janus doesn't seem bored, but he's definitely doing this for Remus and not enjoying the activities alongside him.

As I mentioned in the last post about Virgil and Roman, this is likely in relation to love languages that have been on display throughout the whole video.

At this part with Janus and Remus, though, Janus is using his knowledge of Remus' interests to give him something he'll enjoy, making this the love language of 'gift-giving'. However, he's also acknowledging that these are activities others would be weirded-out by and then saying nothing negative about it. Janus is encouraging Remus to do these activities, regardless of what anyone will think, making this the love language of 'words of affirmation' in its own unique way, by validating what Remus enjoys.

While you could argue the others also did this, it means a lot more for Remus in particular, as someone whose entire presence is seen as a bad thing, that any ideas he may have are hazardous and awful, and he's shut down and ignored as much as possible at every turn. Something as simple as saying that it's actually fine if he wants to dangle a phone off the side of a bridge is incredibly kind to do for him.

But this also shows us that he's very used to being ignored and suppressed, because he was absolutely enamoured at the thought of getting to do any of these activities. From his reactions throughout this entire part, we know he would be equally as excited to eat paper as he would to summon Bloody Mary, which just proves that point. It's not just the extreme ideas of his that get pushed away, it's all of them. Remus finally getting the chance to act things out that he thinks up and enjoys must mean a hell of a lot to him.

Remus then thanks Janus in the end, a great big smile on his face, and Janus sighs and says "you're welcome. Don't say I never did anything for you."

It's possible this is just a little joke, but if it did mean something, it could be implying that Janus and Remus are not quite on equal ground in the current timeline of the plot. This would make sense, as Janus has just been accepted by Thomas, but only just. This still puts him leagues above where Remus is, even though Thomas does seem at least more used to him being around, at least.

This could cause a rift between Janus and Remus if it's not addressed soon, but Janus will still be working to earn his place amongst the others, so we'll have to see how that pans out.

It's also possible that Janus' line is more in reference to his overall purpose in the show. He operates more as Self-Preservation, but that doesn't have to be exclusive to Thomas, as many of the other sides can affect one another, as well. If he's attempting to restore some balance to Thomas' mental health by getting some of the other sides to understand their own biases (as he's been doing so far), this could still put Remus at a disadvantage until Remus is more accepted as Dark Creativity rather than Intrusive Thoughts. This may explain Janus' line if he's already been accused or expects to soon be accused of not paying enough attention to Remus, because Janus' priority will still have to be Thomas' well-being and that could put Remus at the bottom of his priorities.

He may not want Remus to change, but it's going to take a lot of work before the others can be ready to handle Remus without any changes, and he may know that a little too well, considering how long it's taken just for Janus to be accepted.

But, in the end, Janus did manage to prove his point in this part of the video, that he absolutely knows how to give another side a nice day, far better than Patton and Virgil, that's for sure.

He can be proud of that fact, for knowing Remus so well, but hopefully that isn't something he has to toss aside for Thomas' sake any time soon...

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Language Barriers

same anon as like 5 minutes ago, I remembered the fluffy prompt! Could you write a Sanders Sides DLAMPR fic (before they get together) where all of the Sides have different love languages? And they’re all trying to flirt in their own way, but the others keep misinterpreting it? A lot of TSS fic features the Sides having different love languages (and I’d like to think they do, in canon), but I’ve yet to see a fic that specifically focuses on that fact and describes the differences between love languages. Feel free to ignore, and remember to take care of yourself! – anon

hey I love love love love LOVE your writing! If you’re open to prompts rn, I’ve just reread your story "Idiots, Idiots, Everywhere" and it’s awesome, thanks very much, BUT. Are you willing to write a Sanders Sides fic where it focuses more specifically on all the Sides having different love languages? Bonus points if it’s DLAMPR (but platonic PR, this is an incest-free household) and all the Sides are like “…but he’s like this with everyone”. No pressure at ALL, but it’d be cool to see how you approach that. – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: dlampr

Word Count: 3431

Or, five times the Sides misunderstood each other's love languages, and one time Thomas got fed up with it and decided to just...explain it to them with the efficiency they have when they're trying to explain something to him. Which is to say: it takes them a second to get it. The Imagination helps.

Physical Touch

If you were to ask anyone, they would tell you that Patton loves giving people hugs.

It’s the bane of some of their existences, they’d try to claim, and the others might just shrug and say that’s Patton for you. He knows his kiddos love it, at least a little bit. But he won’t lie, he does love a good hug. There’s just something so magical about how, out of all the shapes humans could have possibly been, they’re just perfectly designed to hold one another. Isn’t that just perfect?

Logan would probably say something about evolution and adaptation to the needs of their environment, or something, but he’s not gonna rain on Patton’s parade. Humans are hug-shaped, so they’re gonna hug. Besides, he’s not complaining when he’s working downstairs in the winter and he’s gotten too absorbed in his work and then a Patton-shaped heating pad just comes along and hugs him.

Patton loves hugging all of the Sides. Logan because he’s always so surprised by it, in a good way! He gets this soft little look that is almost on the edge of a smile, like he wasn’t expecting it but it’s the best possible outcome he never could have predicted. Or when he’s trying to comfort Patton and he hugs with undeniable certainty.

Virgil is also fun to hug, because he’s such a pouty-face about it. He snuggles up as much as any of them but he has to put on his mopey show first, just in case anyone’s watching. Virgil also gives the mopey hugs too, but then he makes himself just a bit bigger so he can wrap all the way around Patton. Which is the best.

Speaking of wrapping all the way around, Janus has six arms and he uses every single one of them. They get into competitions sometimes—not serious! It’s all for fun!—about who can surprise-hug each other the worst. Or best. Janus is currently winning from the time he managed to make himself look like the chair in the living room with a blanket over it; Patton sat down and boo!

Remus isn’t allowed to do surprise hugs, not after he accidentally tackled Patton into his Kraken’s pond and they had to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get out of the pond. But Remus’s hugs are the kind that squish his soul right back into his body and ugh, there’s nothing better than that after a long day. Besides, it’s not like expecting Remus’s hugs takes anything away, he’s still going to squeeze him so hard he might not be able to breathe for a few seconds, but that’s Remus!

And then with Roman—Roman hugs the way every single knight from a fairytale should hug. He just makes you feel safe and precious and like nothing in the world could hurt you. It’s why Patton always sits next to Roman during scary movie nights, after all, even if he gets teased about it a little. Roman doesn’t mind.

So yes, Patton does love hugging all of them. But it doesn’t have to be hugging! It can be holding hands, or just leaning against each other, just as long as he can feel them and tell himself yes, they’re okay, they’re right here, I love them.

Because he does. He loves them terribly. Even if they think he’s just a big fan of hugs.

***

2. Quality Time

Virgil has the reputation of being the cat of the Mindscape for good reason. Not because he hisses at things that don’t cooperate—the other Sides are not excluded from this—and not because he spits up hairballs—it was one time, Remus, and it was entirely your fault—but because he has a habit of just appearing in the same room and hanging out for a while.

…alright, it’s not a habit, he does it on purpose.

Companionable silence really is the best way to go about things. You’re both close enough to talk if you want to, but each of them is allowed to do their own thing and hey, there’s another person doing their own thing too. Which is why it’s his favorite way of hanging out with Logan, especially when he needs to make sure that something gets done. He’s always down to affectionately bully Logan into whatever he asks him to make sure he does.

He does that with Remus too, but it’s not exactly the same: Remus needs someone to make sure he doesn’t actually destroy anything, and he’s more than happy to oblige. Especially since he likes to get a bit of a heads-up before a rampaging beast goes barreling through the kitchen at some ungodly hour of the morning.

If he’s never beating the cat allegations, Janus sure as hell isn’t helping. There’s a big window in the Dark Sides’ half of the Mindscape that is perfect for lying in for, oh, a few hours on end. Remus has many—too many, if you ask Virgil—pictures of the two of them just basking in the sun, dozing like they haven’t got a care in the world.

Virgil’s actual favorite place to sleep is with his head in Patton’s lap. Especially after he’s just finished baking, when he’s all warm from the oven and he smells like sugar and spice…Virgil will sit on the counter or the floor and listen to Patton talk about whatever he wants and then while the oven bakes, he’ll fall asleep right in Patton’s lap. He even gets first dibs on whatever just got made.

Roman makes a game of it. He’s the Prince, every good Prince needs a rogue to work with. They trek all over the Imagination, having adventures, defeating monsters, it’s the perfect mix of Roman’s quests and Virgil’s need to be a creepy little shit in every dark corner he can find. Being with Roman even makes boring council meetings fun, because he gets to terrify the idiots that they’re just gonna fight later anyway and he gets to spend time with Roman.

He doesn’t care what he’s doing, not really, just as long as he can spend time with them. He just…wishes they would understand that sometimes.

***

3. Words of Affirmation

Logan is no stranger to impostor syndrome, but that doesn’t mean he has to allow it to plague those he cares for. Understanding something to be true on an intellectual level and feeling the validation that comes from hearing someone else voice it are two very different things. The other Sides are each remarkable in their own right. They deserve to hear it.

Patton is kind. He does not say that lightly: kind people who choose to be kind because they know how difficult it is are not individuals to be trifled with. Patton makes the conscious choice to try and be better every single day. He is earnest and sincere, sometimes painfully so, but he does not allow himself to be dissuaded by obstacles. How could Logan not want to express his admiration?

And Roman…oh, Roman is a wonder. There is so much that goes into his work that often goes unnoticed, or underappreciated, and it is a crime that Logan too often finds himself on the wrong side of that line. Roman is clever and funny and has a work ethic that, truly, rivals Logan’s own. For every slight he makes, however unintentional, he tries his best to make up for it by telling Roman in no uncertain terms how honored Logan is to be part of his creative process.

Remus is an entirely different story, no pun intended. Remus is unabashedly and unapologetically himself, and as such is a marvel to behold. He cares not for the sanitization or reduction of anything in his work, and so Logan does his best to follow suit. Remus is who he is, and it is beautiful.

He tells Janus he’s beautiful too. And not once is he lying. The first time he did it, Janus laughed in his face, at least until he realized Logan was telling the truth. He then didn’t see Janus for an entire week. It ended when a little snake plushie appeared outside of his door in the middle of the night with a tiny note that just said thank you. He tells Janus he’s beautiful every chance he gets now.

Virgil is his little alley cat. Perfectly fine to approach on his terms, but will let him know with no uncertainties when he’s getting a little too close. It doesn’t help that Virgil is quite fun to tease, even if all he’s doing is giving him compliments—true compliments, mind you—and watching in amusement as Virgil curls up into a ball with his hood pulled down over his ears as if that could hide how red they are. He’s not cruel about it, of course; he stops the moment Virgil appears genuinely uncomfortable and there are certain topics he doesn’t go near. But Virgil can’t always hide his little grin and so on it goes.

He’s quite happy to shower them with his words, he just…doesn’t know if they’d believe him if he said I love you.

***

4. Acts of Service

Words are difficult. There is so much ambiguity to be found in even the most basic of sentences, and when it comes to matters like this, Janus prefers to take as few chances as possible. Whoever coined the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words,’ Janus definitely owes a drink for how spot-on it is.

Whenever Patton needs a hand in the kitchen, he’s always the first to volunteer. He can do up to three things in the time it would take another Side to do just one, after all, and he’s had enough experience cooking for the troublemakers (Virgil and Remus) to know how to get around most of their pranks. And how to get them back.

Logan, bless him, has a tendency to overwork himself at the best of times. And in doing so, he gets these terrible knots and cramps in his neck and shoulders from hunching over his desk for hours on end. It might not be the most polite of things to practically blackmail his way into giving Logan a massage, but the poor dear always falls right to sleep so he mustn’t mind too much.

Remus and his delightful menagerie of creatures often need more than their fair share of attention. He had to pester Remus into getting him a raincoat and muck boots that could withstand the acidic slime, but weekend mornings found them strolling cheerfully through pens and cages and paddocks, tending to the bizarre flock. Anything to make the chore more of a fun activity and less of, well, a chore, when Remus really doesn’t suit stressed-out frowns as well as manic grins.

Virgil has a terrible habit of not asking for reassurance when he needs it. Janus regrets the part he played in making it that way. So, no matter how small and stupid Virgil may think it is, whenever he asks for help, Janus gives it. A tug on his cloak or a soft please will have him do anything from turn the light in the hallway on to checking the poor thing over for wounds after a brutal nightmare. It took long enough for Janus to re-earn that trust, he’s not going to lose it if he can damn well help it.

Out of everyone in the Mindscape, only Roman truly appreciates his love of theater. Sure, the others are game to help out here and there, but when it comes to the art of make-believe, Roman is the proud owner of Janus’s ‘yes-and’ partnership. The two of them make all sorts of stories together, from villains and heroes to morally grey adventurers, to simple fairytales and old plays. Roman needs someone else to help him play the roles and Janus is more than happy to play with him.

Perhaps one day, he might be able to reveal that everything he does for them, he does because it’s them, but for now, he’ll happily play the role they expect of him.

***

5. Gifts

Roman and Remus do not, in fact, fight over who gets to give the most presents to the other Sides.

Instead, they fight over whose idea they work on first.

For Logan, Remus’s self-writing pen narrowly won out over Roman’s proposal for a never-ending notebook, if only because said pen squirted ink into Roman’s mouth before he could finish his argument. They ended up giving both to Logan at the same time, but the pen was decidedly on top and did its own little celebratory wriggle when Logan used it for the first time.

Remus nearly challenged Roman to a formal duel when it came to designing a heat lamp for Janus that wouldn’t run the same risk of burning out the electricity in their section of the Mindscape. They managed to agree on everything up to the design on the lampshade. Roman said it should be a yellow snake, curled up and sleeping, and Remus wanted it to be a big leaf that Janus could lay under like he was actually outside. The compromise was eventually reached over many hours of almost bloodshed and now the sleeping snake under a leaf is a staple in the corner of Janus’s room.

Roman cleverly proposed Virgil’s weighted blanket while Remus was being crushed under said blanket, leaving not a lot of wiggle room until he had to agree. Of course, he promptly fell asleep and cuddled Roman into a pile of goo, so technically they made both the blanket and the plushie at around the same time. Virgil still brings the little skeleton to movie nights.

Patton gets their presents one after the other, because you need one to understand the other’s context. A rebreather designed to slip on over the person’s face just like any other face mask, to filter out particulates and allergens. Something that could be worn for up to two consecutive hours before it needed to be recharged.

The other present was a box full of kittens.

”Ro?”

“Yeah?”

Remus pushes his goggles to the top of his head and looks over the desk. “Do you think they’ll ever get it?”

Roman sighs, closing his notebook and leaning back to stretch. “I don’t know, Re. I love them, really, they just…”

”Don’t realize.”

“Yeah. It’s okay, though. We’ll get there eventually.”

“Of course we will. Hand me that wrench, would you?”

“The one that’s covered in guts, or the one that’s made out of foam?”

“The foam one. I need to whack this thing but I don’t wanna hit it too hard.”

“I’m not gonna ask any more questions.”

***

+1: I Love You

”Hey!” Patton rises up first, clapping his hands. “Oh. I’m the only one here.”

“Only by a moment,” Logan says as he joins him. “Is Thomas here?”

“No, I just got summoned by—well, I thought it was Thomas but he’s not here.”

“Whoa, hey!” Virgil appears on the staircase. “What’s going on? I was in the middle of watching someone.”

“Don’t you mean ‘something?’” Remus appears, covered in slime and cackling. “Ah. I see.”

“I’ve got it,” Roman says, rising up and spraying his brother with something that somehow manages to dissolve all the goo without staining or spraying anything else. “There. Now maybe you’ll think twice about surprising Uma when she’s feeding?”

“Oh, I’m gonna do this so many more times!”

”I felt the exasperation from my room,” Janus sighs, appearing, “what’s Remus done now?”

“Why did you assume it was Remus?” Janus just looks at Logan. “Fair enough.”

”Now that we’re all here, what is this about?” He looks around, frowning. “Where’s Thomas?”

“That’s weird, is he not the one who called for a meeting?”

“What’s that?” Virgil reaches out and picks up a piece of paper from the coffee table. “‘Each one of you needs a card, find the matches.’ What cards?”

“Here.” Logan picks up something that fell when Virgil picked up the paper. “There are only five of them, though, and six of us.”

“What do they say?”

“Let me see…one says ‘Physical Touch,’ one says ‘Acts of Service,’ one says…oh, I see.”

“I don’t,” Patton says, “can you share with the class?”

“Wait, wait, I think I know what this is, is one of them ‘Quality Company’ or something?”

“‘Quality Time,’ yes.”

Roman nods. “It’s the Five Love Languages.”

“Thomas doesn’t even speak Spanish!”

“No, no, Padre, not literal languages, it’s…it’s the ways you express your affection for someone. How you tell them you love them. There’s five: physical touch, acts of service, quality time…”

“‘Words of Affirmation,’” Logan continues, reading off the other cards, “and ‘Gifts.’”

Virgil hunches his shoulders. “So what, are we supposed to pick one?”

“I believe the intention of the exercise is to…select which one is our love language.”

Janus huffs. “Why? What does Thomas have to gain from doing something like this? And where is he?”

“Maybe he’s not the one who summoned us.”

“Well then who did?”

“Maybe if we do the thing we can find out.”

Janus sighs, peering over Logan’s shoulder and squinting. “I guess this one’s mine, then.”

“‘Acts of Service?’ Very well. I suppose I’ll take ‘Words of Affirmation.’”

“Can I have the touch one?”

“Certainly.”

“Twins get ‘Gifts,’ obviously,” Virgil mutters, “which means I get the…time one, or whatever.”

Logan hands out the last two cards and they stand there for a moment, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Patton looks back down at his card. “Wait, did you say these are how we tell people we love them?”

“That is a simple definition of this, why?”

“Because you guys do these with everyone!”

There’s a pause. Logan adjusts his glasses. “Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but…yes, I do indeed give you all words of affirmation, because, well…”

“Aww,” Virgil says, “do you love us, Logan?”

Logan coughs, blushes, and adjusts his tie. “I believe that is a logical conclusion, yes.”

“Aww!” Patton squeals. “I love you guys too!”

”So whoever set this up knew that we were all trying to tell each other that—“ Roman starts.

“—and needed to hammer it into our heads what was happening,” Remus finishes.

“Well,” Janus sniffs, even as a smile threatens the corners of his mouth, “how dramatic.”

Virgil tugs on the strings of his hoodie. “Yeah. How dramatic.”

There’s another pause.

Roman coughs. “Uh, this seems like a good a time as any, um…Remus and I put together a festival thing in the Imagination for everyone, if you want to…if you want to come and see it.”

“It has everyone’s favorite state fair stuff,” Remus sands, “and there’s supposed to be a northern-lights kind of thing after it gets dark.”

“Can we cuddle?”

“Of course.”

“Will there be food?”

“Your favorite, shadow-ling.”

“You two are so thoughtful,” Logan says softly, “I would love to come.”

“I can get the good blankets from the closet,” Janus offers, and everyone grins, “should we meet there in ten?”

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

The Imagination is just happy they finally sorted it out. Now, to give the six of them a group date they’ll never forget…

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[nightingale2004]

Severus as a vampire hcs

Credit to @intotheswollenriver for inspiring me

I personally would feel like it would be a Dhampir situation for Severus. His mother is a vampire, and his father is obviously human

The Prince family would've been one of the few vampire families still existing, and they would've originated from Romania

Severus would not be as powerful as a normal full blooded vampire, but since he is also a wizard, he would still be considered powerful

Eileen fed him blood when he was younger, but Severus didn't know.

Severus wouldn't know he was a vampire until either before he got his Hogwarts letter or after

As he grew up, his normal human scent changed into a scent similar to death, and his fangs started coming in slowly

Lily would NOT know he was a vampire or, in this case, half vampire.

Severus (I feel) would've hated drinking blood from both animals and humans when he was younger (you can't tell me he wasn't sensitive about that) but he went for animal blood since it somewhat satisfied him

Severus would've had a suspicion about Remus much earlier due to his scent of wet dog, which separated him from every other witch and wizard around them

Similar to Wolfsbane, he would've made himself a potion of his own creation to become a blood substitute to satisfy his cravings. He makes enough to last him years (he's prepared)

His powers/abilities other than magic, potions, and alchemy would include enhanced strength, speed, heightened senses, and maybe even compulsion

Normally, Severus would have control, and he would be able to retract his fangs and hide any of his vampire features.

When his hunger gets too much, his eyes will turn dark blood red to light blood red, his fangs will show, he'll become fidgety, his senses will kick in overdrive, and he'll become overwhelmed. It will also become very difficult for him to stop from ripping everyone around him apart, but he manages to make it.

When he goes into a frenzy, it will take minutes up to a few hours to calm down and gather himself. He also makes sure to isolate himself very deep into the forbidden forest with lots of animal prey and no human scent in his sight or in his vicinity

He goes into the forbidden forest, not just for ingredients for his potions but to also hunt and to "set the beast free" along with train and control his vampire abilities

After the 'prank', Remus found out about Severus's vampire side, and Severus made sure that Lupin wouldn't breathe a word of his secret to anyone, especially his friends or else he will take Lupin down with him

I want to believe he can also turn into a bat (i will leave that to you all to decide)

He hates the sunlight or sunny days (no. It can't kill him. It just annoys him and gives him headaches)

Prefers cloudy days

Dumbledore obviously knows

Severus self-taught himself control from a very young age since there wasn't anyone to help teach him

Similar to Rosalie from Twilight, he won't drink the blood from bad people. He will probably see it as tainted or bad.

He saw himself as a monster for a very long time, and he still does to this day

He ages more slowly than normal people due to his vampire blood

His appearance will be normal. Pale skin, skinny, black eyes, black hair, and roman nose. But his vampire blood will sharpen his features and some of his bone structure, build him a little muscle but nothing too noticeable, paler than usual, his hair will have something more to it than normal (idk what, tho), and his gaze and presence will also have an unspoken power to it

Voldemort, along with many of the death eaters, doesn't know about him being a Dhampir

The only people who truly know about his vampire side are Lucius, Narcissa, Regulus, Remus, and Dumbledore (Regulus figured it out by himself)

Lucius and Narcissa both have given Severus their permission to feed off them if needed

Remus is very frightened of Severus, but he feels some sense of common ground with Severus because he's not the only dark creature he knows of anymore.

Severus (much to his deep regret) granted Remus access to Severus's hunting grounds in the forbidden forest, so Lupin can "wolf out" every full moon without endangering lives.

Severus has cast many protection and glamor spells on the hunting grounds, so that way no one other than himself and Lupin had access to the hunting grounds and no one outside can enter the area

Vampire blood can heal wounds and is often used in healing potions

Severus is immune to garlic and crosses, but pure silver stings him a little bit but not fatally

He can eat normal food

Has tasted werewolf blood before, but it tasted unappealing and disgusting like acid

Has tasted human blood on more than one occasion, but it's like sugar to him. Very addicting and difficult to control, but he manages through it

[oliviaischillin1204]

tickletober day 16- "cackle"

word count: 980 words

i changed ideas for this prompt like 4 times before settling on this one lol. hope u like it!

Virgil was dying, and Patton was killing him.

Not because he was doing anything wrong-- Patton would never do something to hurt Virgil, and even if he did he would always apologize and try to fix things in the future. He made mistakes sometimes, but Virgil wasn't perfect. All he cared about was that his friend was trying.

So no, Patton wasn't trying to kill Virgil. But he was.

They were all downstairs, everyone having a good evening together. Logan and Roman were in the kitchen, meal planning for the week; Remus and Virgil were sitting on the floor playing a new horror game that'd come out recently; and Patton and Janus sat on the couch watching Tiktoks on Janus' phone. He was very picky about his Tiktok taste, hence why he insisted they use his phone, but Patton didn't mind-- he found most things funny anyway.

And therein lied the problem: Patton's laugh.

There were levels to Patton's laughter. He'd start with giggles, his shoulders scrunching up as his smile widened on his face. They'd get louder if he found something particularly funny: strong belly laughs as he pointed to the screen and repeated every punchline out loud (to Janus' chagrin). And when he saw something really funny, something that delighted him with how surprising it was... there was no word for it other than cackling. Shouts of laughter that burst out of his mouth, head falling on Janus' shoulder as he wheezed words out between desperate belly laughter.

It was driving Virgil crazy. Because it was adorable.

He couldn't focus on the game. All of his thoughts were stuck on Patton behind him on the couch, listening to him laugh and getting increasingly distracted. Were his cheeks getting pink? Was his nose scrunching up? When he let out another peal of laughter, did Janus feel as tempted as Virgil did to give him something else to laugh about?

And his laugh!

Virgil was doomed.

"Come on, Virgin, get on with it!" Remus' voice snapped, bringing Virgil back to reality. He narrowed his eyes and moved his character forward.

"I'm coming, chill out."

"Oh, I'm chilled, baby! You're the one who's too chicken-shit to go through the maze."

Virgil narrowed his eyes. "Bite me, I'm not scared." His character entered a doorway and the screen went black, loading the next room. In the TV's dark reflection he could see Patton sitting behind him, grin wide enough to split his face as he giggled at whatever video they were watching. Virgil couldn't help it; he leaned forward, trying to subtly watch his friend laugh without turning around.

So of course that was the perfect time for a jumpscare.

Virgil shrieked, throwing his controller to the ground and covering his face with his hands. He heard his character die on screen, he heard Remus and Janus mocking him for losing, he even heard Roman and Logan stick their heads out of the kitchen to see what on Earth all the noise was about. But of course, for Virgil, all of that faded into the background: the only thing he could focus on was Patton's screaming, squealing, adorable cackles.

"Virgihihihil! I'm so sorry-- I'm sohohorry-- are you okahahay?" he asked, desperate laughter falling out in between trying to check up on Virgil. "I'm sorry kiddo, I'm sohorry but-- that was so funny!" His giggles and guffaws made Virgil feel flustered, embarrassed by his outburst, but also ignited the competitive spirit in him.

He whipped around. "I'll show you some thing funny!"

And with that, Virgil dove in fingers first, latching onto Patton's stomach and squeezing before the other Side could blink. He heard Patton take one big gasp before his laughter exploded tenfold.

"Wahahahahait! Ahahahahaha!" He squealed, throwing his head back. Janus leaned to the side, clearly amused at Virgil's retaliation, and Remus laughed and pointed at Patton's demise. But neither of them mattered to Virgil. All he wanted was to hear Patton laugh.

"What's wrong, Pat? What's so funny now?" he taunted, moving his hands rapidly between tazing his tummy and his sides, crawling down to squeeze at his hips and thighs, or fluttering so quickly agsint his neck and chin the other Side couldn't even block him. Patton screamed again, wiggling wildly and flapping his hands around in a desperate attempt to block Virgil's access to his tickle spots, but he made no real motions to stop him.

"You-- you're-- Virgil!" he squealed. "Whyhyhyhy--!"

Virgil slowed his hands just enough to let Patton breathe. "'Cause you laughed at me!"

Patton panted. His face was now a bright pink, and his eyes sparkled with mischievous delight. "No, not you, I was-- laughing at a video!"

"Oh, really?" Janus interjected. "What was the punchline then, Patton?"

Patton could only giggle in response. He wormed his way back against the couch cushions, but Virgil kneeling on the floor in front of him easily kept him boxed in. "Um-- um-- it was--"

Remus made a loud buzzer noise. "Too slow, Patty-cakes! Janny, wanna be player 2? I think Tickle me Emo's gotta take care of a dirty liar."

"Noooooo," Patton whined. He grabbed Janus' wrist. "Janus, save mehehe!"

Janus looked down on his, face unamused but eyes clearly playful. "No, I think Virgil's correct. He'll need a lot more laughter out of you before he's done, isn't that right?"

Virgil smirked up at Patton. "That's exactly right, Jay." He drummed his fingers against Patton's tummy, making him giggle nervously. "And I've been waiting to do this all day."

Patton's eyebrows raised. "Wait, you have? What-- ahahahahaha!"

And with that, he was off again, cackling with nothing but pure joy as Virgil vibrated his fingers into his tummy over and over and over again. Yeah, he'll tell him the full story later. For now, he just wants to hear Patton's perfect laughter, all night long.

[engie-ivy]

(I'm on holiday visiting ancient Roman sites, so about time to post a fic for @wolfstarmicrofic 's Greek & Roman Mythology theme! Unfortunately, that I would be able to keep it short is also a myth...)

4th: Conquest

2263 words

For a simple farm-boy like Remus to end up with the legendarily handsome Prince Sirius of the House of Black of the city of Grimmauld, nothing less than devine intervention would be needed. Luckily for Remus, the gods like nothing more than to meddle in the affairs of mortals...

The Myth of Remus and Sirius

‘Please goddess, answer my call, please goddess, hear my plea.’ Remus repeats the words in his head over and over again, while sitting on his knees on the cold marble of the temple.

Suddenly, he hears a rustling of fabric, and the soft sound of gentle footsteps on the floor. He opens his eyes and lift his head, and despite expecting it, he’s still taken aback by the imposing sight in front of him.

A tall woman, taller than any other woman, taller than any man, taller than any mortal. Flowing silk fabrics draped across her body, but still revealing enough of her ivory skin and soft curves. Hair falling to her waist like woven threads of gold, framing a face with eyes the colour of the ocean and full, pink lips. The most beautiful woman in the world.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

“You called upon me?” She asks in a sweet voice as she strides across the marble stones of her own temple to stop in front of Remus.

Remus bows his head again, his forehead almost pressed against the marble. “Yes, my goddess. You must- I mean, I humbly ask you to, no, beg you to please undo the gift you have given me.”

When he dares to look up, Aphrodite has pressed her lips into a thin line. “You were given a gift by an Olympian, and you reject it?”

Remus hands tremble. Insulting one of the gods has never ended well for any mortal, and this might very well mean his death. Or worse.

A week ago, an old woman showed up at the house where Remus and his parents live as simple farmers. She had eyes sunken into her wrinkled face, warts in her neck and on her hands, dirty fingernails and hair like cobwebs. Remus had made her a hot bath, cooked her a meal, and let her sleep in his own bed. The next morning, she revealed herself to be the goddess Aphrodite in disguise, wandering through the mortal world to test the people’s xenia, their hospitality. And for Remus’ great show of hospitality, she had promised to reward him with a gift.

“It’s not that I am ungrateful, my goddess. It was a great honour to receive an Olympian on my doorstep,” Remus carries on, knowing that he can’t back down now. “You were great and good to bestow such a gift upon me,-”

“I know it is what you desired!” Aphrodite interrupts. “I could hear it in your thoughts and see it own your face.” She lifts her chin and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Do you think I do not know my own field of expertise?”

Remus vehemently shakes his head. “No, no, no. You were right. It is what I desired. Just... not like this.”

Remus comes from a family of simple farmers, but they are not without a claim to fame. With the bee hives and flower fields behind their simple farm house, the Lupins known across the land to produce the highest quality of honey. So much so, that generations ago, King Phineas Black made them the personal supplier of the royal family of the city of Grimmauld. Befriended kings and queens, rich noblemen, travelling heroes, all are hoping to be gifted a jar of Grimmauld’s famous honey when visiting the city.

Each week, Remus’ father would ride his carriage to Grimmauld to personally offer their finest selection to King Orion and Queen Walburga. And when Lyall got to old to make the weekly trip, Remus took over from his father.

His first time in the palace, Remus kneeled in front of the throne with his tray filled with jars of honey, when soft footsteps approached. Someone reached out and took a jar from the tray. “So, for honey to be the best it must have the exact same shade of gold as your eyes,” a rich voice spoke.

When Remus looked up, his breath caught. A young man wearing a perfectly fitted, silk toga was holding one of the honey jars and smiling down at Remus with a soft, warm smile. He was slender, with a narrow waist and a face that seemed to be carved out of marble, with delicate features from an uncanny perfection, but the bright liveliness in his silver-grey eyes showed that he was very much not a statue. His ivory skin and light eyes contrasted beautifully with his long, raven black hair, which was now held back by silver pins embroidered with small, delicate diamonds that perfectly matched the colour of his eyes.

Remus immediately knew he was gone for. He also knew he was far from the first man, nor would he be the last, to be captivated by Prince Sirius of the House of Black.

Prince Sirius is widely known to be the most beautiful man in the world. Stories are told about his beauty far and wide, and none of those stories have been exaggerated. Besides kings, queens, princes and princesses pursuing him, even the gods desire him. Apollo has come down from mount Olympus several times to watch the man or even strike up a brief conversation with him, and it is said that even the highest god Zeus has let his eye fall on Sirius, and everyone knows that when the gods want something, they do not patiently wait for it, or bother with permission for that matter. Therefore, it is assumed that Prince Sirius will very soon be the next conquest of one of the gods.

His parents are practically salivating at the thought. After all, when young Ganymede was abducted by Zeus, his parents received divine compensation, the prized horses gifted to King Tros by the highest god himself being admired and envied all over the world, and Sirius is surely as beautiful as Ganymede, maybe even more so. And even if the gods will eventually lose interest in their son, there are still incredibly rich kings who will gladly offer a large portion of their wealth to have Prince Sirius with his legendary beauty at their side. Besides, King Orion and Queen Walburga have a second son for their succession, so that they’re free to exploit Sirius for his beauty.

Every time Remus visited the city, Sirius made time to talk to him, and when Remus found out he was not only beautiful, but also clever and witty and good-hearted, he had completely fallen for the young prince. Completely fallen, while knowing it was completely hopeless.

Until just days after meeting the goddess Aphrodite, Remus heard a frantic knocking. He opened the door and did a double take. The young man’s hair was not neatly styled as usual, instead pulled up in a messy bun with strands falling over his eyes, and his fine clothes looked slightly dishevelled, but unmistakably, Prince Sirius was standing before him.

Before Remus could do more than gasp, Sirius spoke. “Remus, please forgive me my intrusion, but I cannot bear to deny my feelings any longer. I long to be with you! I do not want riches, or titles, or crowns, or even a life among the gods. I just want you! My heart has chosen you, and I refuse to listen to my fears instead of my heart any longer.”

Sirius let himself fall into Remus’ arms, and for a moment, Remus’ heart leapt with joy, but then it was like an ice-cold hand had closed its grip around it as Remus realised what had happened.

Aphrodite’s ‘gift’.

She had given Remus what he desired, but she had not realised Remus did not want to have what he desired if it had to be like this.

Remus told Sirius he was tired and needed to rest. He convinced him to get some sleep, and promised they’d have a conversation in the morning when his mind would be clear.

As soon as Sirius was asleep in Remus’ bed, Remus had rushed to the temple of Aphrodite.

Aphrodite purses her lips and crosses her arms beneath her breasts. “How do you mean ‘not like this’?”

“Not if he didn’t get to choose,” Remus explains pleadingly. “Not if he was used as a tool to do me a favour.”

Aphrodite elegantly arches an eyebrow. “I present you with the most handsome man in the world, a rich, young prince, yours for the taking, and you would refuse?”

Remus only nods.

“Why?”

“Because I love him,” Remus simply states. “I would never want to strip him of his free will, or place my happiness above his.”

Aphrodite stares at him for a moment, and Remus wonders if he has insulted her, if these are his last moments before she changes him into a tree or an insect, or simply burns him to ashes.

But then a small smile appears on the goddess’ face. “For so long, I’ve dealt with people confusing attraction, desire or advantages with love, and it’s a balm to my soul to see pure love, like their is between you and Sirius.”

“I... I don’t understand.”

“You have misunderstood the nature of my gift, my sweet Remus. Allow me to explain.” Aphrodite is smiling indulgently at him now. “You must know that King Orion and Queen Walburga were hoping their son’s beauty would bring them opportunity, and that him having eyes for a simple farm-boy was unacceptable to them. They had threatened that an ill fate would befall you if Sirius were to seek your affections. I have made it clear to them that an even more ill fate would befall them if you or your family would suffer any harm, and you know you must never underestimate just how... inventive us Olympians can be when we really want to punish mortals.”

Remus had not thought such a beautiful face could wear such a dark look, and he shudders, images of Prometheus chained while waiting for the eagles to come eat his liver, Tantalus desperately reaching for the fruits and the water just outside his reach, Sisyphus fruitlessly rolling his stone up to hill coming to mind.

“Also,” Aphrodite continues, her face back to its normal expression. “I made it clear to both Zeus and Apollo to let the boy be. They will listen, because they know better than to cross me.” A pleased little smile. “Those two won’t risk having to live the rest of their immortal lives without ever experiencing a mortal’s love.”

“That’s... wonderful,” Remus says, struggling to find words. “And I am much obliged to you for your kindness. But I still don’t understand. How come Sirius...”

“Regarding Prince Sirius,” Aphrodite says, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “My work there consisted of telling him he had nothing to fear from his family or scorned gods anymore. And that’s it.”

“But... But...”

Aphrodite now laughs out loud. “He loved you already, Remus. He was afraid that his parents with their greed or gods unable to handle rejection would harm you if he were to act on those feelings. The moment I made clear he needn’t worry about them anymore, he came to you.”

Remus lets out a breath. “I.. I can hardly believe it.” He laughs shakily, happiness starting to blossom in his chest. “Did you know from the start my feelings were reciprocated?”

“Is there anything concerning love that I do not know?” Then the goddess shrugs. “It may not have entirely been a coincidence I showed up in disguise on your doorstep. Perhaps I had seen the way you and Prince Sirius looked at each other, and I was looking for an excuse to meddle.”

“Thank you,” Remus manages to say. “Thank you, great goddess. I can never repay you for such a gift.”

Aphrodite looks at him with a twinkle in her eyes. “Just continue to prove to me pure love exists, so I can look upon you whenever I need that belief reinforced.”

When Remus returns home, Sirius is sitting on his doorstep with his knees tucked against his chest, worrying his lips between his teeth. The moment he sees Remus approach, he pushes up to his feet and brushes the dirt from his tunic. “I have completely misread the situation, haven’t I?”

“No, Sirius,” Remus says. “No, you haven’t.”

Sirius shakes his head. “I poured my heart out to you. You told me to go to sleep and disappeared.”

“By Zeus, Sirius, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Sirius gives him a sad smile. “It’s okay. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have assumed. I just thought... When you looked at me I thought I saw...”

“What you saw was there!” Remus exclaims. “Sirius, I will explain. Only some days ago, I somehow gained the favour of the goddess Aphrodite, and she promised me a reward of some sort. So when you showed up here, I thought she had looked into my heart and seen only you, and that the feelings of which you spoke weren’t your own, but a spell she had cast on you in order to please me. That you weren’t here of your own choosing.”

Sirius blinks at him, and then shakes his head, stepping forward and placing his hand gently on Remus’ cheek. Remus briefly wonders if he’s dreaming, but Sirius looks so beautiful, Remus wouldn’t have been able to dream up such a vision.

“Remus,” Sirius speaks. “Let me reassure you. I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

[rauberrauber]

line up baby

wanted to make a sort of ref for everyone so i can keep track of everyone's designs, heights, etc

side hcs below cuz i wanna ramble lol

fyi any links are just for pictures to help visualize what im trying to say

also add to these with ur own i love reading hcs :]

general:

the sides work with a kind of cartoon logic (kinda like who framed Roger rabbit) which is what their shape shifting and such is, they can survive pretty much everything, dont bend to reality type thing

i also dig playing around with the idea that they just arent human, they dont need to eat, sleep, even breathe or blink if they dont wanna. They just play more human around thomas so they dont freak him out (everyone but remus at least, dude doesnt give a fuck lol) they all have their priorities regarding that kinda stuff. like logan doesnt eat or sleep almost at all (there r exceptions tho obvi (crofters))  while patton rly likes to cook and bake so why not eat the stuff you make? meanwhile remus eats literally anything he can find

they can also float if they wanna, same thing where they just dont around thomas. this came about me just imagining remus consistently floating around in the mindscape instead of walking for whatever reason? so yeah they can do that

theres a core mindscape and a ‘dark’ mindscape, that sorta works like the upside down from stranger things (as in the dark mindscape is like literally upside down and mirrors everything, like this)

everyones also got their own unique doors to their rooms. logans is very sleek and modern, pattons in more childlike and almost vintage, romans resemble castle doors while remus’ is more like a dungeons, virgils is typically angsty teenager with tons of posters and ‘keep out’ signs, and janus has tons of locks on his

design wise the core sides have straight teeth and fluffier hair while the dark sides have sharp teeth and rougher(?) hair (since changing, virgil has vampire-esque fangs)

logan:

square rimmed glasses

loves the rain

unintentionally fidgets with his clothes, always adjusting his glasses or rolling his sleeves up and down or messing with the buttons or his tie

playing more into the whole ‘sides dont have to eat thing’ he finds food kinda nasty lol, again only rly eats stuff thats very good to him (ultimate picky eater basically) patton has tried and failed many times to get logan to try and like new foods

roman was the one who got him to try crofters

watches those long ass video essays about random topics on youtube for background noise

patton:

round glasses and heart eyes

has roller blades/skates! specifically these ones that retract the wheels. good way of getting energy out (even if hes super clumsy with them)

tallest + dad bod

tons of bandages, kinda playing around with the phrase ‘broken heart’

him and janus play video games together (both of them are terrible lol)

definitely listens to dad rock/dad music

roman:

starry eyes!

crown can float on its own (same w/ remus’)

has one of these couches in his room to dramatically faint onto

him and remus dont share a room, but they have a sort of portal to each others rooms if that makes sense. a big mirror but instead of reflecting, its showing into the other room and only the twins can go thru

wants to be his own side after the split

roman and remus pierced each others ears when they were younger

virgil:

decently tall but slouches a lot which hides it (slouching hes shorter than the twins but still taller than janus) also rarely stands or sits straight at all so it kinda shocked the core sides when he showed them how tall he rly was (queue roman being mad cuz hes actually the shortest of the main four lol)

has stereotypical emo hair and still has some purple dye in it

hot topic skeleton fingerless gloves and muddy sneakers (idk why it just feels right)

tons of random bruises

draws his nails black with sharpie

listens to metal music to calm down. remus got him into a lot of numetal, screamo kinda music when virgil was still one of the others, it was one of the few times theyd hang out and virgil wasnt 100% freaked out by remus

definitely experimented with scene fashion when thomas was a teenager

drinks tons of energy drinks

janus:

shortest ha

yellow eyes

bow wrapped on his hat

long flowy cape and heeled shoes with spats (thats what theyre called right?)

uses the staff from pof as a walking cane

speaks fluent pig latin, remus and logan are the only ones who can somewhat understand what he says (remus cuz hes been around janus so long, and logan wanting to research and understand whatever the hell janus is saying) it also has always drove virgil up the wall cuz hes never been able to get it, janus will start speaking it just to annoy him

only rly relaxes when by himself, always kinda putting on a mask with the others and thomas, regardless of how trustworthy he considers them

constantly coming up with proper plans and schemes, typically wouldnt let remus near them with a 10 foot pole (affectionately)

knows how to lockpick

scared of the ocean

remus: 

broken crown

eyes can go all crazy, pupils can be different sizes and such (there was a cartoon that did this where the eyes would go red and have a ton of rings around the pupils like spirals kinda? i cant find a pic of what im rly visualizing rip i hope that makes sense)

ton of rings (one of em is an eyeball ring)

is like half an inch taller than roman and will never let him live it down

enjoys all the ‘bad’ disney/pixar movies. (cars, home on the range, etc) and like unironically enjoys them. prolly started ironically to mess with roman but he genuinely find those ones the best and cant fathom why theyre disliked (totally not self-indulgent cuz some of those movies are my favorites)

comes up with random weird plans and ropes janus into them whenever possible, janus plays along best he can

somewhat wants to fuse back with roman (even if hes unsure why)

remus and virge used to make fun of roman together all the time

remus is the one who gave virge his septum and gages

[skeletinmoss]

The curse of the dark Phoenix

Chapter 14: Destination

First chapter | Previous

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Roman startled awake when he felt a weight on his chest, followed by a tongue licking the side of his face. "Star!" He exclaimed in shock, bolting up and pushing the overgrown pup off of him.

Virgil chuckled next to him. Roman scowled at the high Mage, who gently moved his hand past his slobber covered cheek. Roman felt his annoyance melt away as Virgil's magic erased the slobber.

"Sorry. He is disturbingly good at telling when I'm done resting and when I’ve been gone for a bit he doesn’t let me ignore him for a second longer than absolutely necessary," Virgil explained as he helped Roman up of the bed. Roman was about to say something, but then he realized magic moved through his clothes and he suddenly felt as though he just stepped out of a hot shower and into freshly washed clothes. Wow...

"Yeah. That is much better," Virgil breathed in relief.

Heading for the door. Roman followed him in a hurry.

"You ascended spontaneously?!" he recalled astonished.

"Yeah. It happens sometimes. I embraced all that my guide represented, even the parts I didn't like admitting to and set my magic free. So the magic claimed me. A spontaneous ascension is quicker, but harder to trigger. All the pieces have to be in line for it to happen. It looks cool, but it's also... harder to get back to your human form when you are suddenly one with magic like that. I would have collected myself eventually. But if I hadn't been in a room with friends and family to anchor me, it might have taken a few days," he explained.

"It was really cool, though. How you stood up for your sister and put that guy in his place in front of all these people! I wish I had something that cool to show you, and you have at least 4 more centuries of memories!" Roman gushed as they got to Virgil's study where Virgil picked up the crystals, made them into pendants with some summoned materials, and hung them on some pieces of thread he put around his neck.

"It was cool on accident. Doesn't count," Virgil insisted.

"Cool on accident is the best kind of cool," Roman countered as they headed to breakfast. He didn't have that many memories left to show Virgil and secretly using improved recipes was probably going to be the peak of his memories.

Virgil stopped and looked at him. Firm, yet affectionate. He didn't want him to talk down on himself.

He blushed, but found he couldn't look away. Virgil had his gaze locked in and had no intention of letting go until he was convinced that Roman was done being his own worst critic.

"Everything you remember made you, you. And I happen to be quite fond of you. So nothing that made that person, could possibly be uncool or irrelevant," Virgil insisted. Roman couldn't help a little smile at that. When he said it like that... how could he not feel better? Virgil nodded, satisfied and continued to lead the way.

"If you want, we can dream again tonight. After we saved Remus," he promised. More determined than confident in their chances of success. Failure was clearly not an option he wanted to even think about.

Roman followed him until they found Logan and Patton, enjoying breakfast and reading their books.

As they joined them Roman saw Patton was reading up on Phoenixes.

"Good morning," Virgil greeted, amused. Logan hummed in acknowledgment. Patton did look up.

"Morning Virgil! Your clothes sure are something," he said. Virgil shrugged. "What are you reading?" he asked.

"Your friend’s book. Your feathers have the same properties as a real phoenix?" Patton asked, pointing at a note in the margin. Virgil nodded as he and Roman gathered some breakfast for themselves.

"Yeah. In ordinary transformations, any harvested materials would be of inferior quality to the real thing. But a guide transformation is a complete shift. Even other phoenixes wouldn't be able to tell that I am actually a mage. When unpleasant kings rose to power, some high mages took refuge in their guide forms to avoid an oath and await a time when the undesirable king could be replaced properly," Virgil explained.

Patton nodded and flipped some pages.

Virgil glanced over at Logan curiously. Roman took a peak and rolled his eyes. Of course. "Chrono-magic," he offered aloud.

Virgil chuckled and nodded in understanding. Both silently agreeing to let them study in peace while there was still time.

They spent breakfast trying to have a silent conversation. Roman recalled the feeling the tailor's apprentice had evoked in Virgil. Virgil nodded, indicating he knew who they were not talking about. Roman thought of singing and adventure and looked at Virgil, who smiled fondly and nodded. He had fallen for that passion in the apprentice, and seeing that same passion in Roman was one of the things that had sparked his interest in Roman.

Roman barely had the chance to feel a little insecure about that before Virgil hit him with his feelings for him. And the complete lack in nostalgia in them by contrasting it with the feeling he'd had while weaving together yesterday.

He wasn't interested in Roman because he reminded him of a past lover. He reminded him of a past lover because he was the type of person Virgil was attracted to.

Roman allowed his flustered giddiness to take front stage before pulling back and pressing on with fond teasing. Slow, huh?

Virgil looked at him smugly and winked. Maybe this was slow for him.

Roman tried not to think too much about what he might mean by that.

"Well. I don't know about you guys. But I'm sated," Virgil announced, getting up, prompting the dishes to start clearing themselves of the table. Patton and Logan looked up with a start and put the books they'd been reading in their satchels. "Ahem. Yes. Apologies," Logan offered.

"No need. We entertained ourselves plenty," Virgil assured him.

“It'll be 2 hours travel on horseback to the nearest location for the Inn. We should take the opportunity to leave the horses there. The innkeepers will return them home. That does mean that we will be traveling on foot for the next part of our journey. Roughly 6 to 7 hours. That means it'll be roughly 10 hours, including some breaks before we are at the temple. So, we might need another hour of rest," he concluded, unhappy with that realization. "Assuming delays, we'll infiltrate the temple 12 hours from now," he finished, resigned.

Roman raised his hand. "What if we do it all on horseback?" He wondered.

Virgil shook his head. "I don't want to risk their safety by bringing them too close to the fight. Not to mention, I've pushed them pretty hard already." He objected.

Roman shook his head and looked to Patton. Virgil guessed his next offer. "He can't carry all three of us and I don't know how well the moonstones work. I can't risk the curse messing with other transformations," Virgil insisted.

"But what if you and Patton teach me?" Roman argued.

Virgil opened his mouth, and then froze. "Are you sure?" He asked, unable to hide the hope he felt.

Roman nodded. "That would cut... 3 and a half hours off our travel time, right?" He pointed out.

"I can try. If it doesn't work, then fine, it doesn't work. But the sooner we save your friend, the better, right?" Roman stated. Virgil nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that could work," he agreed.

"Right. Let's get going then," the high mage decided.

"Come, Star. Let's find Remus," he announced, much to the wolf's excitement. When they got outside, Virgil closed the door with a promise to be back soon.

He promised the horses they'd go home today. Which got them in a good mood right away.

The ride was amicable. Patton's light was holding strong. Giving Logan some time to have another Crack at the inscription.

Stardust was jumping this way, and that in excitement. Sprinting over the road and returning to check if Virgil was still on the horse until Virgil whistled. A signal to walk by his side. They were approaching a village. "The Inn is just past here," he said. Anticipation clear. They'd done their best to explain transformative magic to Roman. Soon it would be time to see if any of their lessons had stuck. Roman was a bit nervous too. It would be his first attempt at this type of magic. It could go wrong. And Virgil had reminded him several times that these physical transformation were nothing like the Phoenix to human transformation he'd experienced through Virgil's eyes not too long ago.

He was still determined to give it his best shot though. Virgil was counting on him.

The village was cute. It was very early in the morning. The first rays of sun were peeking through the trees, Virgil pulled up his hood nervously. It was starting to look like a gamble, cutting through the village...

Suddenly something drew his attention.

"Star... fetch," he announced. Roman looked about. Stumped as to what could have possibly caught Virgil's eye. Then he realized Stardust was charging at two teenage boys. Two shockingly familiar boys. They looked like younger versions of two of Virgil's teachers... how!?

The boy who looked like Janus' uncle Remy jumped in front of his companion holding up a stick to fend off the cosmic wolf charging at them. Stardust skidded to a stop and looked at the pair. Whining pleadingly. Which completely took the poor teens of guard.

Virgil whistled and Stardust immediately rushed back to their group.

"Sorry about that!" Virgil called as they continued their way. Soothing Roman's curious confusion with reassurance that said, be patient.

Roman glanced at Pat and Lo, giving their questioning gazes a shrug in reply.

They just left the edge of town when Virgil got off. The sun had risen enough that it should turn him into a phoenix any second now. There was a purple and red glow. The energy rustled Virgil's clothes and a mighty cry echoed over the fields. But Vigil didn't seem to change.

"Hmm not perfect, but doable. Virgil mused, taking of his hood as he turned towards them. His face was not framed by hair but jet-black feathers. They ran down his throat and along his arms. Most of it looked like it could be a strange fashion statement.

"Virgil!" A pair of voices chorused. And a moment later, Virgil was tackled by the two teenagers, much to Star's excitement.

"Okay. Guys. I'm glad to see you both too. Though I’m a bit upset you didn't come look for me your previous go around," Virgil admitted as they sat back up.

"We didn't remember the last time," The boy that looked like the teacher that had supervised Virgil's great mage ritual said.

"At All? Who made the move this time?" Virgil wondered.

"Emile," the Remy lookalike stated.

"You were going to fight off a big scary wolf for me. How could I not?" Emile pointed out.

Virgil chuckled "Well, that puts Emile in the lead 15 to 10 now I believe. Better step up your game Rems." He teased as they got up. "Roman, Patton, Logan. Meet high Mage Emile, eternal lover of the frozen tempest and his partner, high Mage Remy, Eternal lover of the smoldering heart."

... how?

"They came up with magic bonds. But theirs did something a bit out there. Whenever one of them dies, the other does too, and they both get reincarnated. Getting their memories back when they kiss one another for the first time," Virgil explained.

"Aw! That's so romantic!" Patton squealed.

"So that makes Remy the frozen tempest and Emile the smoldering heart?" Logan concluded. The three high mages nodded.

"What's with the new look?" Remy wondered.

"A curse, as far as I can tell. I got jumped, cursed and locked in a box right before the dark magic plague hit, apparently," Virgil explained.

"The plague!" Emile gasped. "Is everyone really gone?"

"No. I'm almost certain all high mages can be found and saved... the great mages... I'm afraid they are really lost," Virgil admitted. There was a moment of silence.

"We are headed to save Remus, and then Janus and after that... we'll see what comes next," Virgil assured them.

"We can help!" Emile insisted desperately.

"You are fifteen. I haven't met your families yet, but I don't want them after me for kidnapping you." Virgil insisted.

Emile bit his lip as though trying not to cry.

"Hate to say it but the kid is right," Remy agreed.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Go explain the whole situation to your parents. We'll come by when we head to the castle if we can." Virgil promised.

The duo nodded. "It was nice meeting you all. Take care of each other," Emile insisted.

"Kick my nephew's ass for getting caught with his pants down!" Remy added as he took his lover's hand and headed back to the village.

Virgil chuckled and got back on the horse with Roman. "Well. That all just happened," he concluded, happy with this occurrence. "Those were your teachers when you were at school," Roman said. "Yep," Virgil confirmed.

"Pretty sure they've been around the longest, but with their reincarnations and stuff getting in the way, me and my friends are catching up on them in terms of experience with magic," Virgil said smugly.

Roman looked at his friends. Nope. They were not wrapping their heads around any of that right now. They were still figuring out Virgil's age.

"There we are!" Virgil announced as a two story building came into view. He put up his hood before knocking.

The husband opened again.

"We need passage. To Rinsfort for the horses, they cannot join us any further and Solaris for us," Virgil stated, handing the man some coins. The husband nodded and let them in. "I'll bring you to your destination first, and then I'll take care of the horses. You have our honor," he pledged. Virgil nodded. "And you have my gratitude," he replied.

The door was closed behind them, and by the time they turned around, it was open, and the exterior had changed a lot. The light was even notably brighter.

Virgil strode outside. As soon as he heard the door close, he turned towards Roman and Patton. "Let's see what you have," he stated.

“Wait!” Roman said as he took out his sending stone. He cleared his throat. Time for a little bit of acting.

“Roman for Terance, or whoever is closest to this damn stone! Anyone hear me?” he called out, frantic, worried, shocked.

“T-terance here! What is going on?” Terance asked bewildered.

“We uncovered something bad. A cult at the sunlake. It could threaten the throne. You must tell the king that we humbly request any available men in the nearby area to be made aware of these blasphemous practices,” he stated.

“Cult…? How…? No, you are right. That is bad. I’ll let him know. Thank you. Be safe!” Terance insisted. And then the stone went still.

Roman smiled. “Now there’ll hopefully be backup to arrest them all once we’ve disarmed them,” he stated.

“Good thinking,” Logan nodded in agreement. “I was wondering how we were to detain an entire cult to keep them from coming after us. This would certainly eliminate some of those concerns.

Virgil nodded. “Now, let’s see how we get there,” he said, bringing them back to the matter of transportation. Here went nothing.

Roman swallowed nervously and closed his eyes. He clenched the horse hairs tightly in his fist and channeled his magic through them. Asking them to guide the magic so he could take the form he desired...

He felt his body change and forced himself to keep focusing on his breathing. With every breath, he was less a man and more a horse. It was an uncomfortable change bug je didn't waver. He had to do this. Not just for Virgil and his friends. For the pact he and his friends had made to be great. To unravel the secrets. For his parents and all travelers who wouldn't have to fear the dark as much. For the farmers who wouldn't have to fear the winters. For his king who longed for answers…

Suddenly it was like he crossed some kind of mental barrier and the change was sudden and very nearly painful. He let out a chocked shout, but it came out as a neigh. His hands... hooves landing on the ground. He looked up nervously.

He saw Logan stand next to a Grey horse with white hair and clear blue eyes both were looking at him. As was Virgil. Did he mess something up?

"You did great," Virgil soothed. "It just got... intense, at the end there. Are you alright?" He asked. Roman righted himself. He felt a little wobbly. He took a few steps in place to test out his footing. Then he carefully walked a circle around the group. Feeling everything was in place. He could feel his tail, his manes. It was so unreal. He threw back his head and made another round at a faster pace, just to be sure he had the hang of it. He skidded to a stop in front of Virgil and neighed in affirmation. He looked to Patton who took a few careful steps and then trotted a circle of his own, making a little jump in delight when he got the hang of it.

Virgil smiled. "Good. I'm glad. We'll get to the lake much faster now. Thank you," he said gently. Then he summoned a saddle. Roman huffed a little displeased.

"Just the saddle. I promise," Virgil said gently as he put it on Roman's back, secured it and got on. Roman shook his head and stepped in place this felt weird. Virgil chuckled and Roman stilled immediately as he got the sense that Virgil was thinking of a dirty joke right now. "Sorry. Truly,” Virgil said, though he sounded just a bit too amused to Roman’s liking. “You good Logan?" He asked.

"Yes... I suppose I am. It is a novel experience to be sure," Logan admitted.

"Don't think about it too much," Virgil advised.

"Let's go," he suggested. Roman appreciated he resisted the urge to put his heels in Roman’s flanks to urge him onward like he’d ordinarily do when riding a horse.

He and Patton got going with urgency in their step. They had a high mage to save.

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you’re in the hive, the other bees assume you’re supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Chapter 6: Baiting the Trap

Wordcount: 1.8K

~~~~

Virgil is woken by his alarm and has never once in his entire life been less interested in getting out of bed.

He's comfortable. The bed is soft, the blankets are warm, and Virgil is sleepy and wants nothing more than to just lie here forever.

He snoozes the alarm and drifts back off.

Five minutes later, of course, he's dragged back out of sleep by the insistent melody.

Virgil seriously considers quitting his job so he doesn't have to ever leave this bed, but he does actually need money to buy groceries and pay his rent, and also his hosts have been real gracious but even their patience would surely wear thin if Virgil never left.

So, regrettably, Virgil sits up. He yawns. He longingly contemplates lying back down, but forces himself instead to get out of bed.

At some point in the night, someone—Patton, presumably—had returned his cleaned clothes, which are now sitting folded on the floor by the foot of the bed. Virgil dresses. He folds the borrowed pajamas and sets them on the foot of the bed. He doesn't usually fold his pajamas, but it seems like the polite thing to do in this case. After a moment, he makes the bed too.

And then he goes downstairs.

They're all in the dining room again, and they give him breakfast, and this time he's calm enough to appreciate it.

Princey drives him to work, and he has an otherwise normal day. He borrows a clean apron, and he makes a lot of coffee. He eats lunch at the shop, he takes the bus home, he has leftover spaghetti for dinner, and he does that load of laundry.

His bed seems even harder and lumpier than usual, contrasted with the memory of the bed—no, the actual literal cotton candy cloud—he'd slept on last night.

At least it makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning, when staying isn't bliss. If only by a little. Virgil is not and has never been a morning person. Still, he manages to actually catch the bus for the first time this week, so that's good.

Their newbie’s here for her second day of training, which means that Virgil splits his time between his usual duties and showing her the ropes. She's wary of the fancy coffee machines, and looks attentive but intimidated when Virgil walks her through one of the more simple brews.

She does better with the register. Its layout is also unfamiliar, but at least the potential worst-case consequences of pressing the wrong button are much less severe than “breaking an expensive machine” or “third degree burns and coffee everywhere.”

Several hours into Virgil’s shift, his manager joins him in the back while he's on break.

“There's someone out front looking for you,” Morgan tells him.

“Who?” Virgil asks.

“Nobody I recognized,” Morgan says with a bit of a frown. “Said he was a friend of yours though.”

“Did he give you a name?” Virgil asks, and Morgan's frown deepens.

“No, and I asked,” she says. “I said to him, ‘and you are?’ and he said ‘oh I'm roamin’ like that's an answer, so I prompts him, ‘yer name?’ and he just says ‘yeah’. So seeing as he's decided to just be evasive I told him he could order something or he could leave, but he couldn't hold up the line any longer, so he bought a coffee. Paid in cash, too, so I didn't get to see his name on the card neither.”

“He said he was roaming?” Virgil asks, gears turning.

“Yeah, ’cept he ain't, he sat down with his coffee,” Morgan answers.

“Brown hair?” Virgil asks, fighting back a rising laugh. “Maybe bout this tall, looks a bit like Remus if he ever shaved and combed his hair?”

Morgan nods. “Do you want me to get rid of him?”

Virgil pinches his lips together and shakes his head. Morgan squints at him.

“And what exactly is so funny?” she asks.

The laugh spills out of him. “Sor– sorry, Morgue,” he says. “I think you misheard him. His name’s Roman.”

“What, like Greeks and Romans?”

“I think so,” Virgil says, still grinning. “He's Remus’s brother.”

“I see,” Morgan says. “Well, if you don't want me to get rid of him, do you want to talk to him, or stay back here til he leaves? Lexi and I can handle the customers for a while yet if you don't wanna see him.”

“Nah, I'll go see what he wants.”

Roman is sitting in one of the booths, sipping a coffee and staring dramatically out the window. He turns as Virgil approaches, and then perks up. “Finding Emo!” he says. “Your coworkers said they had never heard of you in their lives. I was starting to think I’d gone to the wrong coffee shop.”

“Nah, just being protective,” Virgil says, sliding into the booth across the table from Roman. “We don’t give that kind of information to customers.” They’d had problems with stalkers trying to get information on employees before, and one bewildering man who’d kept coming round looking for someone Virgil had genuinely never heard of, til Morgan banned him from the shop. “What’s up?”

“So we realized your bike is still at our house,” Roman says. “I wanted to see if you’d like a ride over to get it back. Also if you would be interested in watching more Unfortunate Events, because we left off at a really climactic bit, and I know I already know what happens next, but I want to know what happens next, you know?”

“I definitely want my bike back,” Virgil says. He glances at the clock. “I don’t get off for a while yet today, but if you want to come back around five?”

Roman nods. “And movies?” he asks eagerly.

“Maybe just a little bit,” Virgil says. “I don’t want to bike home in the dark.”

“Oh of course,” Roman says. “I'd never force you to do that.”

Virgil glances back toward Morgan and Lexi at the counter. They’re busy with customers, but the line isn’t very long. Lexi catches his glance and grins at him with a little wave.

“Do you need to get back to work?” Roman asks.

“Not yet,” Virgil decides, settling more comfortably into his seat. “I’ve got a few minutes left before my break ends.”

~

Roman returns just before five, as Virgil’s getting ready to hand off the machines to the next shift. He orders three coffees to go “and whatever Virgil would like,” with a wink in Virgil’s direction.

Virgil rolls his eyes and makes himself a hot chocolate, which he sips on the drive back to Roman’s house. The sun is already dipping toward the horizon, so it looks like there isn't going to be time for tv before he has to bike home. It's a shame, because he really was looking forward to it.

“We’re home!” Roman calls as he opens the door from the garage into the rest of the house to lead Virgil in. As they cross the threshold, Virgil is hit with a nearly tangible wall of scent, stopping him in his tracks. The air smells rich and warm and delicious. He can smell fresh bread, and roasted meat, and something sweet, all mingled together into a tantalizing aroma that makes his mouth water and his stomach perk up eagerly.

“Oh good!” someone Virgil can’t see calls back. “Great timing!”

Roman pulls his jacket off and hangs it on a hook by the door. “It smells great in here!” he says brightly, heading deeper into the house. Virgil manages to unglue his feet from the floor and finally closes the door behind himself and follows Roman.

Calico is putting a steaming dish onto the table when they enter the dining room. “Welcome home,” he says fondly. “Dinner's just about ready.”

“Oh good, I'm hungry,” Roman says. “It smells fabulous, darling.”

Calico beams, eyes scrunching up with it. “Thank you,” he says.

“We brought coffee,” Roman adds, and hands Patton one of the to-go cups. “Your Chemical Romance made this just for you.”

“Aww,” Patton says, smiling heart-meltingly at Virgil. “Thank you.”

Virgil finger-guns awkwardly back at him with his free hand. “No problem.” Making coffee is literally his job. Roman was the one who had paid for it, and picked the flavor.

Then Patton notices what Virgil had put on the side of the cup instead of his name. “Aww!” he exclaims. “You drew me a kitty!”

“Yeah, I figured– you like cats, right?”

Patton looks up at him with shining eyes. “That is paws-itively precious. Thank you so much!”

“Please do not keep the empty cup just because there is a cute cat on it,” Logan says. Roman hands him his own coffee, on which Virgil had drawn a robot face and a triangle science beaker. “Thank you. We do not need additional clutter in our home, Patton.”

Patton pouts at him. “But look, it's so sweet!” he says. “Look at this precious little kitten drawn specifically for me and tell me that you want to throw her in the trash!”

Logan sighs. “At least cut the picture out of the cup instead of keeping the entire thing,” he says.

“Deal!” Patton agrees cheerfully.

“Sorry,” Virgil says. He had not expected Calico to appreciate the art to quite that extreme. He might've put more effort into it if he had.

“No need,” Logan replies. “This is hardly the first time something like this has occurred, and I hold no illusions that it will be the last.”

“Sure won't!” Patton agrees shamelessly.

“Um, so where's my bike at?” Virgil asks after a moment.

“By the door still,” Roman says, taking a seat at the table. “Do you wanna sit next to me again?”

Virgil just now notices that the table is set with four plates. “You… want me to stay for dinner?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course,” Roman says, now looking puzzled himself. “Why would I bring you to dinner and then not want you to stay and eat?”

They hadn't discussed him coming to dinner. They had planned for him to retrieve his bike, and perhaps watch tv with Roman, but the topic of dinner hadn't come up.

Virgil means to say no, that he had better get going, but it does smell so very good, and they did set a spot for him, and he is hungry, and if he goes home now he'll have to figure out some other meal and honestly it's not going to be anything fancier than frozen pizza and fries, or maybe just ramen since that would be faster.

“Okay,” Virgil says, and sits next to Roman.

~~~~

Chapter 7: How They Kept Him Very Well

[part-time-zombie]

Not Bad

pairings: platonic dukexiety

summary: Virgil liked to sing, but refuses to do so after realizing no one likes hearing him sing. Well, almost no one...

tags: warnings: hurt/comfort, roman is kind of a jerk at the start, remus is a good friend

word count: 1970

A/N: The first part of this takes place before Accepting Anxiety and Virgil's name reveal, so Virgil is referred to as Anxiety at the start.

Anxiety didn’t like showing up for very long, and for good reason. It had been made very clear to him that he wasn’t welcome, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t care. He was only doing his job, just like everyone else, and even if they weren’t always on the same page he hoped that they’d at least understand that even if they didn’t respect it.

They sure as hell didn’t respect him, anyway.

He wasn’t trying to bother them this time, he was just hoping to grab a quick bite of food and he’d leave again. By the looks of it, they were all more than fine with that, as they tried their best to ignore him as he quickly slinked into the kitchen in search of a snack.

He had come prepared, of course, with his headphones already blasting his playlist loud enough to drown out even Roman’s own dramatic singing. He always found a way to insult Anxiety when he felt like he was being an issue, and he wasn’t about to hear any of it if he didn’t have to.

He perused the snacks in the kitchen while the others busied themselves in the living room, and it seemed they were actually going to leave him alone this time. Letting himself feel emboldened by the thought, Anxiety took his time, quietly humming along to the music under his breath.

It was one of his favorite songs to listen to, one he’d sing along to on occasion when he was alone. There was just something about it that cheered him up a little, and he always felt better hearing it.

Eventually he found something that looked appetizing enough, and he gingerly walked back to the stairs with his snack in tow, not even aware that he was still humming along.

Roman, meanwhile, was very much aware.

“Geez, Anxiety, if you were gonna make us listen to your edgy music you could’ve at least let the actual band play it,” he teased from his spot on the couch. “Or better yet, let me do the singing around here. At least I’m actually good at it.”

Anxiety whipped around to face him, pulling the headphones down around his shoulders. He had already heard Roman loud and clear, thanks to an unfortunately timed lull in the music, but he was hoping he didn’t properly hear what he thought Roman had just said. “What?”

“I’m just saying, music isn’t exactly your strong suit.”

“Roman, be nice,” Patton interrupted, much to Anxiety’s relief.

Roman didn’t listen or let up. “What? I’m just being honest. He’s got a bad singing voice, is all.”

“Technically, there aren’t any ‘bad’ singing voices, only untrained ones,” Logan added.

“Alright, fine, he’s got an ‘untrained’ singing voice, it still sounds bad either way.”

Anxiety felt his face twist into a defensive scowl. It was only humming. He wasn’t even singing any actual lyrics, for crying out loud. Sure, he’s no professional, but Roman didn’t have the right to go and say something like that out of nowhere, especially not when Anxiety and the others have been letting him sing his own lungs out plenty of times.

Then again, that was Roman. He’s the prince, the fan favorite. Anxiety is just… Anxiety. He’s the villain, the problem. Why would they go easy on him? It’s not like they have any reason to, they sure as hell don’t like him. Now they have something else to taunt and torment him about all because he was stupid enough to drop his guard. It just so happens that this something is much more personal to him, and it’s gonna hurt a lot more later on.

It already hurt badly enough now.

Anxiety stormed back upstairs and kept his door firmly shut behind him, turning the music up even louder than before in the hopes that it would drown out the cutting words that had already made their way into his head. The music kept playing, but Anxiety wasn’t singing along anymore.

Virgil slouched at the kitchen table, quietly picking at his cooling breakfast. No one else was in the kitchen with him, much to his relief, as the others had all already finished their food and were busy carrying on with the rest of their morning routines.

Not anymore, never again.

The food was alright, he just wasn’t feeling hungry. Last night had been rather rough for him, and right now all he wanted to do was curl back up in bed and sleep for the rest of the day. Of course, he couldn’t do that. There was plenty of stuff he had to do today, and he knew that if he went back to bed he’d only stress himself out even further about it.

Sighing to himself, he put on his headphones and started up his playlist. It had gone through plenty of changes through the years, with plenty of songs being added and a few dropped, but it still helped him get out of any slump he found himself in, even one as small as this.

He pressed play and let the opening chords of his favorite song fill his ears, already relaxing into the familiar melody as he finished his breakfast.

The music continued to play as he cleaned his finished dishes in the sink, with the playlist eventually landing on Forbidden Fruit. Virgil almost thought to change it, still unsure as to why or how it was even on his playlist to begin with, but he just sighed and let it play out. His hands were still covered in soapy water, and it would be too much of a hassle to dry himself off and fish his phone out of his pocket just to skip one song. Besides, he had to admit it was pretty catchy.

The rhythm worked its way into his head, and Virgil found himself idly humming along as he finished the final dish. He dried his hands on a towel and turned back to the kitchen table, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he saw Remus crouched over it and staring at him with a wide grin.

“Holy shit, Remus, what the hell are you doing?” he gasped, pulling his headphones away from his ears and taking a few deep breaths. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, y’know that?”

“You were singing my song,” he replied, his smile only growing wider.

Virgil’s heart leapt into his throat, and he felt like kicking himself as the realization and shame set in. He had gone and done it again, exposing his dismal lack of talent in another moment of weakness. It’s like he didn’t learn his lesson the first time. “Shit, yeah. Just forget about it, okay? Sorry.”

Remus quirked his head to the side, replacing his grin with a confused pout. “For what?”

Virgil shrugged, only feeling even more awkward. “I dunno, for humming too loudly, I guess. It’s probably pretty annoying, and I bet I only ruined it.”

Remus made a face before jumping from the table. “I don’t think you ruined it. If anything, I’d say you made it better.”

“Yeah, right. That’s just because you’ve got bad taste,” Virgil scoffed.

Remus crossed his arms, expression smug. “If my taste is so bad, why were you singing my song?”

Virgil didn’t have a response to that one.

“Whatever, just leave it alone, alright?” he grumbled, quickly sliding past Remus and out of the kitchen. He wasn’t dealing with this again. Once was enough.

“I can’t just leave it alone,” Remus called after him. “How can I leave it alone when this is the first time I’ve heard you sing in years?”

Virgil stopped and slowly turned to face him. Remus looked sincere, almost concerned. At least, that’s what it looked like, but Remus never feels concerned about anything, least of all Virgil.

“You used to sing all the time back then,” he continued, taking a few steps closer. “It was so awesome hearing you having fun like that, why’d you ever stop?”

Virgil shuffled in place, not looking at Remus. He had heard him? Virgil thought he was safe when he would sing, but Remus was listening this whole time? How much had he overheard before Virgil stopped, and how much did he laugh about with Janus or Roman?

“I didn’t think you’d hear me,” he muttered, nervously fidgeting with the drawstring of his hoodie. “You don’t need to tell me how stupid it was, I know it sounds bad.”

Remus didn’t say anything for a moment, and Virgil looked up at him to see what was going on. His face was slack with confusion and an unreadable emotion.

“Who told you that?” he asked, voice frighteningly low. “Who convinced you that you shouldn’t sing because they’re too stupid to realize how awesome it is?”

Virgil took a step back, almost repelled by Remus’ stare. “Look, it’s no big deal, alright? I know I suck at singing, it’s just a fact.”

“Hell no,” Remus snapped, stepping forward and forcing the distance between them to close. “I loved listening to you sing, and if someone went and made you feel like shit for it then they’re in for a fucking fight!”

Virgil froze, not only because he was very sure Remus would follow through with his threat even if it would be towards his own brother, but also because of what he had said just before it.

“You… like it when I sing?”

Remus scoffed in disbelief, and Virgil worried for a moment that this was all just another joke.

“Of course I fucking like it! There’s a reason I always let you pick the music, and it wasn’t just because you’ve got awesome taste, which you totally do by the way.” He said with another grin.

Virgil narrowed his eyes, searching Remus’ face for any signs of a lie or trick and finding none. This wasn’t Janus he was talking to after all, it was Remus, and Remus always spoke his mind no matter what was on it. When he said something rude it was because he meant it, but the same goes for if he said anything nice.

“You really mean that?”

Remus gave him another smile. “I don’t know which part you’re talking about, but yeah I did.”

Virgil felt himself returning the smile, albeit more subtly. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t sweat it. I just hope this means you’re gonna start singing again, I really do miss it.”

“You know I’m not the karaoke type.”

Remus shrugged. “Maybe you should be. You’re definitely good enough, if you ask me.”

That’s not exactly what Roman told him back then, but he’s been wrong before. He’s actually been wrong about a lot of things, and really so has Virgil. They both thought that it had to be right vs wrong, but Roman hadn’t always been very good, and right now Remus wasn’t being all that bad.

Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at that realization.

“What’s got you laughing like that?” Remus asked, leaning in far too close to get a good look at the grin that was starting to form on Virgil’s face.

“It’s nothing, just thought of something,” he explained, trying and failing to force the smile away.

“And you won’t tell me?”

“Nope. You wouldn’t get it anyway.”

Remus gave him an exaggerated pout, but Virgil just shook his head and headed back upstairs. He adjusted the headphones back over his ears and let the next song play, this time humming along even louder than before.

Singing really was something personal to Virgil, something special. It made him feel more confident and hopeful on his darker days, and if Remus at the very least liked it, then maybe it isn’t that bad.

taglist:

@keitaisghost @rougeside4 @britt-ish123 @new-zee-land @nico-the-overlord @can-i-take-a-stab @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat @lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie @yuckypuppie

[swhhdr-wthhr]

lots of fun facts about my sanders sides opposite au: (but i clearly have thought of some characters more than others)

logan :

introduced around the time of og accepting anxiety. represents bad decision making and willful ignorance

his first big moment was in can lying be good, which was a game show run by him instead of a play directed by janus. he didn't care whether thomas lied or not. he just wanted to give janus a morality crisis and joke around with virgil

only uses analog technology (ex: if someone asked to borrow his phone, he'd pull out a rotary phone, which works despite not being plugged in)

he's an amateur magician and loves showing off his tricks. virgil is the only one who is impressed by this

pulls things out of seemingly-too-small spaces like mary poppins with her bag, but only from other people's clothes (he will often steal janus's hat and pull something absurdly large out of it)

instead of rising up or appearing out of nowhere in the videos, in every video he walks out from a different random place (ex: from behind the tv like remus, from underneath the couch, down the stairs virgil sits on)

all of his clothes are glow in the dark

he doesn't know he needs glasses. he just assumes everyone has blurry vision

uses vocab cards like original logan but all of the words are made up and have never been said by anyone

regularly puts inflection on all the wrong parts of words and pronounces common words wrong (he doesn't pronounce long, uncommon words wrong, just short, easy to pronounce ones)

always talks just a little too loud and a little too fast

conspiracy theorist but only for theories that no one has ever heard of

wears a suit in every video except the court room one, where he wore the unicorn onesie the whole time

when thomas died his hair purple, his hair was inexplicably a completely different color. it would change every time someone mentioned it and he would never acknowledge that his hair looked different from everyone else's

censors people like og janus, but instead of covering their mouths, he just makes a loud distracting noise like og remus

the only side who doesn't think he's annoying is virgil, who finds him hilarious

virgil:

introduced in episode 1. represents pretty much all of thomas's positive emotions and none of the negative ones. also impulsive thoughts (impulsive not intrusive)

is technically a light side based on his role in the story but he's friends with everyone and "doesn't pick sides" (he sides with whoever is the most useful or interesting to him in the moment)

whenever conversation with the others bores him, he shamelessly ignores them, often scrolling on his phone in the middle of a video

extreme form of a hedonist. he chases dopamine like his life depends on it and is willing to do extremely reckless things if he thinks it will be a little fun

often causally tries to usurp the others and gain unilateral control over thomas's life ("wouldn't it be fun if you just ignored all of them and listened to me?")

is very open to trying new things for the experience, even if he can reasonably guess that he won't enjoy it. roman has no short supply of horrifying, painful ideas that they can try together

very good at insulting people in ways that really hurt. also very good at acting innocent and pretending he wasn't trying to be mean

some parts of the fandom in this universe would think he had a corruption arc when he became friends with the dark sides (there would definitely be fanfics where patton kidnapped and brainwashed him to be evil or smth) but he was just always like this.

always excited to help out the dark sides with their plans, being a bit of a double agent because thomas trusts and listens to him

he's an asshole who just wants to have fun and get what he wants all the time forever

roman:

introduced in this version of dwit, but he represents dark creativity and melancholy more so than intrusive thoughts

claims to hate disney but constantly quotes disney villains

frequently goes on long, depressing, overly dramatic speeches

collects dead things. he's trying to get a corpse of as many different animals, plants, etc. as possible

shameless masochist. (his shoes feel like he's walking on broken glass all the time and he loves it. he was inspired by the original little mermaid)

says all of the same types of things as og remus, but in a more monotone, gloomy way

often very aggressive, especially towards logan. he shows his love through violence and insults. he does the same with patton and virgil but less overtly because he can't get away with it as easily

came up with the name "the dark sides" just like he did in the og series, but this time it's an official term because it was created by one of them

always fights with patton over who's in charge. patton is usually the winner. either way, they don't like listening to each other so whoever wins would just boss around logan (they already both do)

janus:

introduced in episode 1. represents honesty and justice

the most gullible person ever. assumes everyone is always telling the truth and is completely blindsided when he's lied to

a strict kantian. he literally has never lied intentionally

associated with sheep instead of snakes (get it? like the bible?) it's much more subtle than the snake symbolism but gets more obvious as the show goes on and he gets an outfit change. (he wears a white wool turtleneck, has sheep/goat rectangular pupils, and has little horns under his hat, which is why he wears it)

his logo doesn't have a sheep on it, but his christmas sweaters do

tries to be nice to everyone since it's his job to be a good role model, but he would rather be honest than polite, so he can be pretty sassy at times

always feels guilty for something, even if he did nothing wrong

always a target of logan for his gullibility, and how he tries so hard to steer thomas in the right direction. in can lying be good, the game show logan hosted was rigged and completely nonsensical. this drove him crazy because...

he cares very much about things being fair

much more competent in the courtroom scenario than og patton was, too bad patton in this universe is also more strategic than og janus

remus:

introduced in episode 1. represents light creativity, hopes and dreams, and innocence

very squeamish and easily scared

if og remus is r rated creativity and og roman is pg creativity, this remus is g rated. never curses. very averse to violence

he's kind of the straight man of this group of gay men (similar to og logan). he's fed up with everyone, especially the dark sides

really hates the fact that virgil is friends with the dark sides, but he can't really do anything about it so he just sulks

you know in the we take requests video where they say the most out of character thing each character could say? and for remus they say like 'can you guys just chill? i'm trying to sing all of moby dick'? that's this remus's energy

writes poetry in his free time

his ideas can be pretty out there and weird like og remus, but just without the dark stuff

mostly pretty calm and subdued, but can get very hyper and intense when he's exited about an idea or a romantic opportunity for thomas

patton:

introduced around the time of svs

very strategic. plans meticulously before doing anything. (even little unimportant things) he was the mastermind behind pretty much everything logan and roman did before he was even introduced

says that he doesn't care about the other dark sides and that he only works with them out of necessity. he is actually very fond of and protective over them. he'll never admit it

always polite to everyone, even when he's arguing against them (this was very confusing to thomas who expected him to be even scarier than roman). it's just performative though. he's a hater, not a lover

enjoys making puns but always denies that they were intentional (like og logan but if he was lying about it being an accident)

has very dulled emotions. he enjoys spending time with roman, logan, and virgil because they're all so intense in different ways and allow him to feel something

he is especially attached to virgil, since virgil can't just make him feel any emotion, he can make him feel happy

doesn't emote with his eyes. or blink.

starts off as less threatening than roman, but later on, he gets some much scarier moments. roman has more of a constant, steady stream of scariness, while patton holds most of it in until it builds up to an explosion

has a #1 Dad mug, but it's been crossed out and has #2 Boss written under it (logan gave it to him)

roman frequently tries to kill him. he pretends not to notice it to frustrate him (ex: roman will poison his coffee and he'll drink the whole thing with no reaction)

[glacierruler]

Okay, so there's still a lot I have to set up for this in order for it to happen. But would anyone be interested in doing a collaborative Sanders Sides fic? Like I'd be coming up with the au, but all of you send prompts in. Nothing that necessarily has to involve romantic ships, NSFW, or unsympathetic sides(however the sides can have morally grey actions) would be allowed. I don't know what or if there will be ships, but I think I want that to happen naturally if it does happen at all. And the only related sides would be Remus and Roman, and Remy and Virgil(Remy and Virgil are not related to Remus and Roman, and Remy is not necessarily guaranteed to show up.)

I would be making a side blog for this, simply because of how involved it is. If you send a prompt, you will be credited for it(if you'd like to send one on anon, please give me something to signify it being different than any other anons that might send in prompts), and extra credit will be given to anyone whose prompts make it into the chapter.

All prompts will be put on an index card along with your username or anon signature. Longer prompts will have some words shortened or abbreviated(with to w/ as an example) to fit on the card.

Please don't send in prompts yet, as nothing is set up. I will tag anyone who has said they are interested in a post that has the side blog name, but that won't be until after this poll is done.

Please reblog this to reach as many people as possible. Feel free to send in questions, and please let me know if you'd like to be tagged in the post about the side blog.